Introduction
Critical Play with Generative AI is a workshop my colleagues and I designed and teach to diverse audiences at our university, and have integrated into 10 academic courses. It has been iteratively developed to make space for hands-on learning and critical reflection on the transformative AI technologies that are “everywhere, all at once”—and to grow learners’ agency in a world where AI is scarcely regulated and not going away.

Workshop Overview
Critical Play with Generative AI begins with an overview of generative AI and many of the social issues it presents, as well as its potential benefits. (Being up front about our own reservations and skepticism, we have found, welcomes in doubters and invites critical conversation.) We then give participants a creative challenge: for most student audiences, the challenge is to create a new, unique campus housing concept; for librarians, the challenge might be to envision a new and unique library or library space. The workshop continues with the introduction of an image-generating tool (e.g., Midjourney, Gemini, Padlet) and some guidance and co-learning on prompting strategies. Working in small groups, they collaborate to brainstorm and visualize their ideas in a low-risk, playful setting. At multiple points in the workshop and particularly at the end, we facilitate critical discussion on topics including inaccuracy and misinformation, bias and representation, intellectual property, labor, and more.

Adapting to the unique audience of AI4LAM, I will bookend this workshop with meta content that will:

• invite attendees to share their own pedagogical examples and ideas around teaching AI as library and museum educators,
• share my own pedagogical approach to teaching AI in a university library context,
• unpack the design decisions made and best practices discovered in our workshop, and
• discuss strategy, outcomes, and future directions for this work.

Workshop Details
No specific technology or teaching experience is required. If you are teaching generative AI in any way, please come ready to share your experience, ideas, and (if you like) teaching materials.

Participants will work in groups of 3, using personal laptops and AI tools they have access to via their own personal or professional accounts. So:

• Please bring a laptop if it's not too much trouble, but not everyone will need to do so.
• If you have paid access to Gemini, ChatGPT, Midjourney or other tools your group can use during the workshop, please come ready to share.

Planned Outcomes
After attending this workshop at AI4LAM, my hope is that attendees will be (better) able to:

• apply a nuanced understanding of generative AI to effectively use tools such as ChatGPT and Midjourney in response to a creative challenge;
• construct a hands-on workshop that engages learners with generative AI tools, an appropriate creative challenge, and critical reflection; and
• facilitate critical discussions about generative AI, helping learners to identify biases, ethical considerations, shortcomings, and adverse confluences of these technologies and pre-existing social misalignments.

Workshop Timetable & Outline
Introductions (15 mins)

• Attendees introduce themselves briefly
• My context: NC State University, The Studios, our Makerspace program, and the Innovation Studio
• How we developed our approach to teaching AI

The Workshop: Critical Play with Generative AI (75 mins)

• Introduction: focus, materials and tools
• Creative challenge!
• Group brainstorming without AI
• Brainstorming and concept development with AI
• Visualization with AI
• Introduction of critical reflection tool
• [short break]
• Presentation of group concepts
• Critical reflection and discussion

Pedagogical Discussion & Exchange (30mins)

• Design of the workshop and its adaptability
• Feedback, questions, and commentary on the workshop
• Participants share their own AI teaching strategies and examples
• Sharing general AI pedagogy resources and frameworks

Background
Critical Play with Generative AI is situated within NC State University Libraries’ broader program of providing access to emerging technologies along with learning experiences that foster digital literacy and critical thinking. This program, called The Studios, encompasses spaces including a Makerspace, VR Studio, Digital Media Lab, and more. More essential, though, is the program’s ethos of hands-on, experiential learning and cross-campus collaboration—which we have applied to teaching AI in our workshop. First offered in June 2023, the workshop has been developed with the input of many faculty collaborators to meet learning objectives in academic courses in fields including Technical Communication, Graphic Design, English Literature, and Women and Gender Studies.

About the Instructor
Adam Rogers is the Learning Innovation Librarian at North Carolina State University Libraries (Raleigh, North Carolina, USA), where he directs the Innovation Studio, a high-tech interactive exhibit space for student work that is driven by collaborations with students and faculty. He also develops and teaches a program of creative learning experiences, including on generative AI. Adam previously created and directed the Libraries’ Makerspace program, and contributed to Making + Learning in Museums & Libraries: A Practitioner's Guide & Framework, funded by the Institute of Museum & Library Services.