The use of Large Language Models (LLMs) for research and writing projects has dominated conversations around AI on campus — often overshadowing AI tools that output visuals rather than just text. In our fourth Digital Literacy Café webinar of the school year, three innovative professors joined us to share their strategies for helping students build critical visual communication skills with AI-powered image generators.
Perspectives on the best uses of AI for image generation
Allison Christians, H. Heward Stikeman Chair in Tax Law at the McGill University, began by saying that while she and her students primarily use generative AI to search and find information, she sees the benefits of using the technology as a visual tool as well.
Presentation slides about tax law are typically all text and visually uninteresting, she said. To communicate more effectively, she recommends that her students use AI tools to select better fonts and templates and even add generated images. “You have all these tools at your disposal,” she said, “so if you're looking at your page and all you see is blocks of text, do something about that.”
Dr. Sheneese Thompson, Associate Professor of Afro American Studies at Howard University, said that she strives to create assignments that will prepare her students with the skills to create change. They need digital communication skills to succeed, so she assesses their knowledge by asking them to compose their assignments in multiple modalities.
For example, she’ll ask students to present the same research in three different ways: Write a paper, design an infographic, and create a podcast or short video. “I’m looking at how students can stretch their metacognition,” she said, and become agile communicators who can persuade a variety of audiences.
George Garrastegui, Jr., Chair of the Department of Communication Design at New York City College of Technology, said he tells his design students that AI is their new Mac or iPhone, because it helps them understand and communicate faster.
With generative AI, they can quickly aggregate ideas and visual concepts and then become more discerning and critical about those ideas. He tells his students: “It's your job to not just take things at face value. Your job is to scrutinize it. Your job is to re-look at it...that's what designers get paid for: how to look at something uniquely.”
Practical tips for incorporating generative AI into learning experiences
The three professors shared some inspiring ideas for how to use generative AI to spark learning:
Since her students often struggle with being specific in their writing, Thompson asks them to use tools powered by Adobe Firefly generative AI to write image-generation prompts, evaluate the results they get, and then revise their prompts multiple times to be more specific and achieve better results.
Thompson’s Black students don’t always see themselves reflected in digital spaces, so she’ll have them use Firefly to generate images that more authentically represent them and their experiences.
Garrastegui said that since creatives have the superpower of noticing things that others don’t, they can use generative AI to create images and moodboards to help visualize their hard-to-explain insights, building in layers of information to help connect audiences to their ideas.
Christians has students use generative AI to create lyrics for songs explaining tax laws, and then use their knowledge and judgement to refine the lyrics for accuracy and impact.
“The desire to communicate and be heard is universal,” Christians said. She tells her students: “If you don't figure out how to communicate your point of view, then you're not contributing to what you've learned. You're only consuming, you're not creating. Use all tools you can to be more effective at communicating.”
Watch the webinar recording to hear more about the challenges and rewards of using generative AI for teaching and learning, and be sure to join us at our upcoming Digital Literacy Café webinar to continue the conversation.
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