Lesson by Kay Emmert
Explanation (for Instructors)
This activity encourages students to explore how generative AI tools can serve as brainstorming partners. Specifically, students use an AI app to generate advice on how to be more proactive in meetings—such as those with a supervisor, client, or team.
In acknowledgement of the fact that some students may have ethical objections to AI, this assignment also provides an ethical alternative to the assignment.
Instructions (for Students)
AI-Generated Tips on Proactivity
Use Your preferred Generative AI app to help you brainstorm other ways you can be proactive in meetings. Once you’re done asking it questions, download or copy its responses into a file and upload it here.
AI models can be used as a brainstorming partner. You can start by asking it questions like:
As a new intern, how can I be more proactive in meetings with a client (or supervisor)?
Don’t just accept the first response the AI model offers. Some of its suggestions might be great, but some of them may not be helpful at all. Sometimes you have to rephrase your question, ask it follow-up questions, or tell it what wasn’t helpful about its response. Experiment with it! Ultimately, though, you should decide what advice to act on.
Reflect on the ideas you received from the AI model regarding ways you can be proactive in meetings.
Anytime you use AI to help you generate ideas or content, never simply use everything it generates unaltered. Curate your list down to ideas that would actually work for you and your situation. In the textbox provided:
List at least 3 useful ideas for being proactive in meetings that AI helped you come up with.
(50 words minimum) Then, reflect on these questions:
- Why, personally, do you feel you need these particular tips? What’s useful about them for you?
- Describe your process for identifying your 3 ideas for being proactive. How did you curate your list?
- What wasn’t helpful about the AI model’s responses?
Ethical alternative to using AI
Do you have an ethical objection to using generative AI models? Alternatively, you may link to an article that provides advice about being proactive in the workplace that you find independently. Reflect on this article and your process in the next question.
(50 words minimum) Then, reflect on these questions:
- What advice from the article you found would you like to keep in mind?
- Why, personally, do you feel you need these particular tips? What’s useful about them for you?
- As you searched for or read the article, did you encounter any unhelpful advice?