AI Steering Committee

AI at UIS Newsletter - February 2025

jbaum02s — Mon, 24 Feb 2025 13:12:08 +0000

AI at UIS Newsletter - February 2025 jbaum02s Mon, 02/24/2025 - 07:12

Student AI Listening Session

jbaum02s — Fri, 24 Jan 2025 20:56:46 +0000

Student AI Listening Session jbaum02s Fri, 01/24/2025 - 14:56

Free Appetizers and Drinks!

February 10th

6-7pm Student Union North Ballroom

7:30pm for online students - Zoom link to join

We want to hear what students are thinking about Generative AI (like ChatGPT)!

This informal listening session is for students who are interested in how AI is changing the world and how it can impact your studies and future career.

No presentations, just open discussion!

We want to hear from you on topics like:

What skills do you think will help you succeed in a world with AI?
How do you think UIS can better prepare students for a future where Gen AI plays a significant role?

Your input matters!

Your questions and ideas will help shape future workshops and resources specifically for students.

Come join the conversation and let's explore the exciting possibilities of AI together!

Do you have an interesting AI use case you would like to share?

Faculty, Student & Staff GenAI Use Case

When

Mon, Feb 10 2025, 6 - 7pm

Location

Student Union North Ballroom

Event Type

Student

Department

AI Steering Committee

AI at UIS Newsletter - January 2025

jbaum02s — Thu, 02 Jan 2025 17:53:14 +0000

AI at UIS Newsletter - January 2025 jbaum02s Thu, 01/02/2025 - 11:53

Generating Documents with GenAI

jbaum02s — Thu, 02 Jan 2025 16:24:24 +0000

Generating Documents with GenAI jbaum02s Thu, 01/02/2025 - 10:24

Generative AI can assist in creating a wide range of documents, from professional reports and essays to technical guides and creative scripts. Knowing the types of documents you can create and how to prompt for them ensures optimal results.

Document Types, Use Cases, and Prompt Examples

1. Articles and Blog Posts

Use Case: Informative or opinion pieces for websites or publications.
Prompt Example:
- "Write a 1000-word blog post on sustainable living. Include actionable tips for reducing waste and examples of successful initiatives. Maintain a conversational and engaging tone."

2. Reports and White Papers

Use Case: In-depth analysis or professional documentation on a specific topic.
Prompt Example:
- "Draft a white paper on the economic impact of renewable energy adoption. Cover market trends, job creation, and long-term savings. Use a formal tone and include relevant data."

3. Technical Guides and Manuals

Use Case: Instructional materials for software, hardware, or processes.
Prompt Example:
- "Create a step-by-step guide on setting up a local Git repository. Include screenshots and explanations of commands. Use language suitable for beginners."

4. Code Scripts and Programming Documentation

Use Case: Scripts for automation, data processing, or educational purposes.
Prompt Example:
- "Generate a Python script to scrape weather data from a website and save it to a CSV file. Include comments and error handling."

5. Creative Writing

Use Case: Stories, poems, or scripts for entertainment or exploration.
Prompt Example:
- "Write a short story about a futuristic city where people communicate through holograms. Focus on the protagonist’s struggle to reconnect with their roots."

6. Resumes and Cover Letters

Use Case: Professional career documents tailored to job applications.
Prompt Example:
- "Draft a resume for a software engineer specializing in machine learning. Highlight skills in Python, TensorFlow, and project leadership."

7. Presentations and Slide Deck Content

Use Case: Outlines and content for business or educational presentations.
Prompt Example:
- "Create a presentation outline on the benefits of cloud computing for small businesses. Include five key points with supporting examples."

8. Email Templates and Business Communications

Use Case: Polished emails for professional or customer interactions.
Prompt Example:
- "Write a customer service email template apologizing for a delay in shipping and offering a discount on the next purchase."

9. Word Documents

Use Case: Professional, formatted documents such as contracts, meeting minutes, or business proposals.
Prompt Example:
- "Draft a business proposal for a client seeking SEO services. Include an executive summary, proposed services, timeline, and pricing. Format it for a Word document."

10. Excel Files

Use Case: Spreadsheets for data tracking, budgeting, or analytics.
Prompt Example:
- "Create an Excel sheet for monthly budgeting. Include columns for categories, planned expenses, actual expenses, and variance, along with formulas to calculate totals."

11. PowerPoint Presentations

Use Case: Visual aids for presentations in business, education, or events.
Prompt Example:
- "Design a PowerPoint presentation outline on the advantages of adopting AI in healthcare. Include slides for introduction, benefits, challenges, case studies, and a conclusion."

Tips for Crafting Prompts for Different Document Types

Be Specific: Clearly state the purpose, audience, and desired outcome.
Include Key Details: Mention important topics, style, document type (word, excel, powerpoint, etc.), and format preferences.
Set Context: Provide any background information needed for clarity.

Resource type

Prompt Category

business and professional

AI Prompt Writing

Anonymous — Mon, 16 Dec 2024 16:55:51 +0000

AI Prompt Writing Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 12/16/2024 - 10:55

As a language model trained on a vast amount of text data, Generative AI models, like ChatGPT, can provide high-quality and relevant content suggestions for your website. It can assist in creating engaging article posts, program descriptions, and marketing copy, as well as improve the overall readability and coherence of your website's content. With its natural language processing capabilities, ChatGPT can also help in generating content for social media, to help further promote and drive traffic to the website. Overall, using ChatGPT can save time and effort in creating quality content, while also increasing the effectiveness and impact of your website.

Prompt Writing Examples

Although website editors can utilize ChatGPT as a tool to generate content ideas, it is crucial to acknowledge that ChatGPT is an AI language model and not immune to errors. Despite its ability to generate text that is grammatically correct and logically sound, it may produce inaccurate or irrelevant information, especially when confronted with unfamiliar topics. Therefore, it is imperative for website editors to review and update the generated content for accuracy and relevance to ensure that the information provided is trustworthy and suitable for our intended audience.

Below is some examples on how to structure your prompts to get content that matches the brand, style and tone of of the UIS brand.

Basic Prompts

Based on the brand and style of tone used on the https://uis.edu, write me a description of this program to help market it to potential students. Leave out specific details on courses just make it a general overview: (paste program overview from the catalog description or other content as a starting point).

Can you rewrite to be more concise and make sure it is at a 9th grade readability level

What are some potential careers students can get with a _______ degree

Write a short description as to why a student would want to major in __________

Write me a list of learning objectives for this major

What are some ideas and ways that we can engage with students

Rewriting Content Prompt

Rewrite this content to be more concise:

give me a short description about ___________

rewrite in 100 characters or less

Article Prompt

Write an article about how __________________

Social Media Prompt

I work for the University of Illinois Springfield in the ____________ Department. Write me 4 social media posts for ____________.

Workshop Recording

This workshop was provided as an introduction to ChatGPT, a large language model, and its capabilities. Participants learned how to write a good prompt and use ChatGPT to generate articles, program descriptions, and improve website content. The workshop also covered customizing ChatGPT's responses to match a brand's tone and style, incorporating brand-specific keywords and phrases, and ensuring coherent and relevant content. The benefits of using ChatGPT for content creation, best practices for training, and writing social media posts to advertise programs are also discussed.

Workshop Slides

ChatGPT and the Web from OfficeofWebServices

Prompt for Feedback

jbaum02s — Mon, 09 Dec 2024 20:26:59 +0000

Prompt for Feedback jbaum02s Mon, 12/09/2024 - 14:26

Generative AI (GenAI) is a powerful tool for generating creative content, solving problems, and refining your ideas. One of its most valuable uses is providing detailed, actionable feedback. This webpage will guide you on how to prompt GenAI models effectively to obtain high-quality feedback and improve your overall results.

Why Ask for Feedback?

Feedback from GenAI can help you:

Spot errors and inconsistencies in your content.
Refine the structure and flow of your ideas.
Enhance clarity and readability.
Identify areas where more detail or explanation is needed.
Gain alternative perspectives or creative suggestions.

Effective feedback leads to improved outcomes, whether you're working on a blog post, a technical report, or a creative project.

How to Prompt GenAI for Feedback

Step 1: Clearly Define Your Goals

Before asking for feedback, know exactly what you’re trying to achieve. Are you improving grammar, enhancing persuasiveness, or seeking structural changes? Clarity will help the GenAI model provide relevant suggestions.

Step 2: Provide Context

Share as much context as possible about your content. This includes:

The target audience.
The purpose of the piece.
Any specific requirements or tone of voice (e.g., professional, casual, humorous).

Step 3: Craft Specific Prompts

Vague prompts lead to vague responses. Instead, tailor your prompt to your needs. Here are examples:

General Feedback: "Please review this article and suggest improvements in grammar, flow, and structure."
Focused Feedback: "Can you suggest ways to make this introduction more engaging for a younger audience?"
Critical Analysis: "What are the weaknesses in this argument, and how can I address them?"
Style Enhancements: "Does this text align with a formal tone? If not, how can I adjust it?"

Step 4: Break Content into Sections

If your content is lengthy, ask for feedback on specific parts. For example:

"Please analyze the clarity of the third paragraph in this essay."

This ensures detailed and manageable responses.

Techniques to Improve Prompts

1. Use Examples

Provide examples of what you’re aiming for. For instance:

"I want this paragraph to sound more persuasive, similar to this example: [Insert example]."

2. Include Guidelines

If you have style guides or specific instructions, mention them. For example:

"Please review this text for adherence to APA formatting."

3. Iterate and Refine

Don’t stop at one round of feedback. Incorporate suggestions and ask for further refinement. For instance:

"I've revised the introduction based on your suggestions. Can you check if it’s now engaging enough?"

Example Feedback Prompts

Feedback on Clarity

"Please identify any sentences or ideas in this article that are unclear and suggest improvements."

Tone Adjustment

"Does this paragraph strike the right tone for a professional audience? If not, how can I improve it?"

Grammar and Style Check

"Are there any grammatical errors in this text? Suggest edits to make the style more consistent."

Structural Feedback

"Is the progression of ideas in this essay logical? How can I improve the flow?"

Your Turn

Using GenAI effectively for feedback can significantly enhance your work. By crafting specific, goal-oriented prompts and providing sufficient context, you can tap into its potential to refine your ideas, correct errors, and elevate the quality of your content. Iterative feedback helps you ensure feedback is relevant and actionable and improves your own critical thinking and evaluation skills. Start experimenting with your prompts today to unlock new levels of productivity and creativity!

Resource type

Prompt Type

iterative

Prompt Category

personal development

AI at UIS Newsletter - October 2024

jbaum02s — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 18:42:36 +0000

AI at UIS Newsletter - October 2024 jbaum02s Mon, 10/21/2024 - 13:42

GenAI Video Tools

jbaum02s — Mon, 07 Oct 2024 19:43:47 +0000

GenAI Video Tools jbaum02s Mon, 10/07/2024 - 14:43

Using the Stable Video tool, the header video was created using the following prompt:
shot from a drone, dust storm in a field in the midwest

Generative AI (GenAI) video tools have changed the way we create videos, enabling everyone from beginners to professionals to produce high-quality content with minimal effort. These tools use advanced artificial intelligence to generate, edit, and customize videos based on text prompts, images, or other inputs. Whether you need a marketing video, an explainer, or social media content, GenAI tools can make the process seamless and quick.

How to Use GenAI Video Tools

The process of creating videos with GenAI tools generally follows these steps:

Step 1: Define Your Objective

Before diving into video creation, it’s important to define the purpose of your video. Whether you’re aiming to promote a product, create a tutorial, or tell a story, having a clear vision will guide the creative process.

Step 2: Choose the Right Tool for Your Needs

GenAI tools vary in capabilities, so it’s essential to pick one that suits your project. Some tools specialize in text-to-video creation, while others offer avatar-based presentations, animation, or editing.

Step 3: Input Your Content

Once you have a tool in mind, start by inputting the basic content:

Text Prompts: Many tools allow you to describe the video you want in a few sentences. The AI will generate visuals based on your prompt.
Images/Artwork: You can upload images or artwork that you want the AI to animate or include in the video.
Scripts: Some tools require you to input a full script or voiceover, which the AI will match with appropriate visuals.

Step 4: Customize Your Video

After the AI generates the first version of your video, you’ll have options to customize the content further. This might include:

Adjusting animations and transitions.
Selecting different themes or styles.
Changing the background music or sound effects.
Adding text overlays, captions, or subtitles.

Step 5: Preview and Make Adjustments

Once the video is generated, preview it and check if it aligns with your vision. Many GenAI video tools allow you to make multiple iterations, so you can fine-tune the content as needed.

Step 6: Export and Share

When you're satisfied with the final video, export it in your desired resolution and format. Most tools offer common video formats (e.g., MP4) that you can easily share on social media platforms, websites, or use for presentations.

AI at UIS Newsletter - September 2024

jbaum02s — Mon, 09 Sep 2024 14:31:59 +0000

AI at UIS Newsletter - September 2024 jbaum02s Mon, 09/09/2024 - 09:31

AI Tools & Resources

jbaum02s — Fri, 02 Aug 2024 14:01:01 +0000

AI Tools & Resources jbaum02s Fri, 08/02/2024 - 09:01

Tap into the Power of AI

Explore the latest AI tools, resources, and insights to help you harness the power of artificial intelligence for innovation, productivity, and learning.

Have a new AI tool to add below? Email web@uis.edu to get it added to our resource lists below!

AI Accessibility Tools

Maestra AI - free AI transcription tool, created to help students take notes and transcribe lectures in real time.
Be My Eyes - An artificial intelligence (AI) solution to provide vivid descriptions of images and scenes, and in-depth context-specific help, without connecting to a volunteer at all. This can provide a way for students with visual impairments to interact and better participate within a lab or classroom.
ChatGPT - includes several accessibility features to support diverse learners. It offers voice mode for spoken conversations, image input for transcribing or describing visuals, and reading assistance for simplifying or summarizing complex text. It also supports multiple languages and can tailor responses in various formats to meet individual learning needs.
Seeing AI - free app that narrates the world around you. Designed with and for the blind and low vision community, this ongoing research project harnesses the power of AI to open up the visual world.

AI Large Language Models (LLMs)

ChatGPT - launched in November 2022 by OpenAI, and has been credited with catalyzing widespread interest in generative AI.
Claude - Claude is a next generation AI assistant built by Anthropic and trained to be safe, accurate, and secure to help you do your best work.
DeepSeek - DeepSeek achieves a significant breakthrough in inference speed over previous models. It tops the leaderboard among open-source models and rivals the most advanced closed-source models globally.
Google Gemini - A free interface available to everyone with a Google account. Gemini is a multimodal AI model, which means it can understand and generate text, as well as other types of information like images, audio, videos, and code. It was released in February 2024. Some AI capabilities are already integrated into other Google tools.
Grok - developed by xAI as an AI search assistant. X Premium and Premium+ subscribers have the ability to conduct searches and get answers using Grok, as an enhancement of X's search functions.
Microsoft Copilot - GenAI companion to inform, entertain, and inspire built with GPT-4. Get advice, feedback, and straightforward answers.
Perplexity - If you are looking for a response from a model that includes an aggregation of search and a generative model and present it with references, this is a good option. Microsoft Bing chat also includes references in its response, so this is not specific to Perplexity, though the experience is better with this tool.

AI Research Tools

ChatPDF - One specific use case that might be very relevant for most users is to be able to ‘chat’ with a PDF document. This might be a research article, a printout of a web page (saved as .pdf), or a PDF of a book. It is a very simple and elegant solution. There are limitations on how much you can use it for free. This feature will be subsumed in one of the other platforms soon, but for now, it is an excellent tool.
Consensus - an academic search engine powered by AI and we're on a mission to make the world's best knowledge more accessible.
Elicit - Advanced Semantic Search finds relevant papers using semantic similarity, even if they don’t match specific keywords, expanding the scope of your research.
Explainpaper - allows you to highlight confusing text and it provides and explanation in the sidebar. Great tool for students as well.
Humata - ask questions across your files, summarize findings, compare documents, and search for answers.
Keenious - find research relevant to any text; elevate your research to new heights with Keenious' dynamic features. With a range of cutting-edge tools at your fingertips, you'll be able to easily customize your results to fit your unique needs.
Quillbot - Drop in articles - can summarize and create annotated bibliography.
ReadCube - literature management system helps discover, organize, review, read, annotate, share and cite research.
Research Rabbit - an innovative citation-based literature mapping AI tool. The scope of such tool is to optimise your time searching for references as you start planning your essay, minor project, or literature review.
Scholarcy - Scholarcy is an AI-powered article summarizer that reads research articles, reports, and book chapters in seconds. Identify key information such as study participants, data analyses, main findings, and limitations to reduce the time spent appraising a study by over 70%.
Semantic Scholar - Semantic Scholar is a free, AI-powered research tool for scientific literature, providing access to over 211 million papers from all fields of science.
SkipIt - Summarize and chat withYouTube videos via question and response.

AI Image Tools

Adobe Firefly – Generative AI can be used for images, audio, and video. Adobe Firefly (beta) is currently available via university license and lets you quickly create graphics. Two powerful features include: “text to image” to generate images from a detailed text description and “generative fill” which makes it easy to remove objects or paint in new ones by supplying text descriptions. Other features include text effects, generative recolor, 3D to image, and extending images.
AI in Adobe Photoshop - Explore generative AI features in Photoshop powered by Adobe Firefly. Remove distractions in a click, get amazing photorealistic results, and add more picture to your picture.
DALL-E - generate images with a text prompt in ChatGPT with DALL-E.
Flux 1 - image generation
Limewire - free AI Art generator that turns your words masterpieces! Use the LimeWire AI Studio to create images, videos, and audio content.
Midjourney - a GenAI program and service created and hosted by the San Francisco-based independent research lab Midjourney, Inc. Midjourney generates images from natural language descriptions, called prompts. Get more information on Midjourney Prompts.
OpenArt AI - Free image generator with 100+ models and advanced options and controls.

AI Video Tools

Adobe Premeire AI Video Editing - Premiere Pro is packed with AI-powered features to simplify complex tasks and speed up editing. Now with Generative Extend, powered by Adobe Firefly, you can add extra frames to any clip.
Descript - Edit your videos & podcasts just by typing. Descript's powerful AI editing tools let you make videos, podcasts, & short clips for social fast.
Sora - create video from text with OpenAI's Sora.
Stable Video - from Stability.ai Stable Video allows users to create videos based on text prompts.

AI Audio Tools

Murf.ai - Generate natural-sounding voiceovers and dubs in multiple languages, streamline multimedia production, and explore endless creative possibilities.
Stable Audio - an open-source model optimized for generating short audio samples, sound effects, and production elements using text prompts.

Resource type

AI Steering Committee

AI at UIS Newsletter - February 2025

Student AI Listening Session

Free Appetizers and Drinks!

February 10th

No presentations, just open discussion!

Your input matters!

AI at UIS Newsletter - January 2025

Generating Documents with GenAI

Document Types, Use Cases, and Prompt Examples

1. Articles and Blog Posts

2. Reports and White Papers

3. Technical Guides and Manuals

4. Code Scripts and Programming Documentation

5. Creative Writing

6. Resumes and Cover Letters

7. Presentations and Slide Deck Content

8. Email Templates and Business Communications

9. Word Documents

10. Excel Files

11. PowerPoint Presentations

Tips for Crafting Prompts for Different Document Types

AI Prompt Writing

Prompt Writing Examples

Basic Prompts

Rewriting Content Prompt

Article Prompt

Social Media Prompt

Workshop Recording

Workshop Slides

Prompt for Feedback

Why Ask for Feedback?

How to Prompt GenAI for Feedback

Step 1: Clearly Define Your Goals

Step 2: Provide Context

Step 3: Craft Specific Prompts

Step 4: Break Content into Sections

Techniques to Improve Prompts

1. Use Examples

2. Include Guidelines

3. Iterate and Refine

Example Feedback Prompts

Feedback on Clarity

Tone Adjustment

Grammar and Style Check

Structural Feedback

Your Turn

AI at UIS Newsletter - October 2024

GenAI Video Tools

How to Use GenAI Video Tools

Step 1: Define Your Objective

Step 2: Choose the Right Tool for Your Needs

Step 3: Input Your Content

Step 4: Customize Your Video

Step 5: Preview and Make Adjustments

Step 6: Export and Share

Popular GenAI Video Tools

AI at UIS Newsletter - September 2024

AI Tools & Resources

Tap into the Power of AI

AI Accessibility Tools

AI Large Language Models (LLMs)

AI Research Tools

AI Image Tools

AI Video Tools

AI Audio Tools