AI for Professional Productivity

The Experience

We will hold six (6) sessions: Monday’s 5:30 – 6:45pm, on the following dates:

• Sep 8, 15, 22
• Oct 6, 13, 20

Sessions will be available both in-person and online:

1. We will meet in-person at the Newman University campus Alumni Center in Dugan Library.
2. Online attendance will be available via Microsoft Teams. Sessions will be recorded and posted online after the sessions.

Participants will share an online portal, including:

• Weekly announcements with recommended preparation steps prior to each session.
• Recommended videos, articles, and online resources for your use between sessions.
• Discussion boards for sharing ideas between sessions.

Learning Objectives

Participants will:

1. Engage in a supportive learning community of professionals who are testing ideas, celebrating wins, asking tough questions, and learning together.
2. Build habits for interacting skillfully with AI assistants, distinguishing their strengths, limitations, and ideal use cases.
3. Collaborate with AI for deep research and data exploration, learning how to frame problems, interpret results, and strengthen analytical outputs.
4. Develop and deploy customized AI assistants, complete with tailored personas and domain-specific knowledge, to support specialized tasks.
5. Reflect critically on the social and ethical dimensions of AI, identifying risks, opportunities, and techno-moral virtues that support human flourishing in an AI-enhanced world.
6. Develop your own custom projects, using the bootcamp as a launchpad for continuous experimentation and shared learning.

Technology Requirements

1. Bring Your Own Laptop
   We will develop experience with several advanced features, including many tasks that are more efficient on a laptop.
2. AI Assistant Subscription
   Before the first session, select and subscribe to a plus or pro subscription with one of the following AI assistants. When you come to the first session, be logged in and ready to use to at least one of the following:
   • ChatGPT Plus = $20 monthly subscription
   • Google Gemini Pro = $19.99 monthly subscription
   • Claude Pro = $20 monthly subscription
   • SuperGrok = $30 monthly subscription

Notes: These subscriptions unlock advanced features that we will use throughout the bootcamp.

The 6-Session Agenda

NOTE: What follows is our present picture of several of the most essential features and topics to explore in a 6-week bootcamp. However, the features and capabilities of leading AI assistants are changing quickly. As things change, we may adapt the plan.

Session 1: Sep 8

Generative AI Fundamentals

• Discuss how generative AI works.
• Review the leading AI assistants, including ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Grok.
• Discuss the “jagged frontier” of AI: the sometimes-surprising boundaries between what AI assistants are good at and what they’re not.
• Spend time developing prompting habits that transform your assistant from a bumbling people-pleaser into an increasingly useful assistant.
• Leave with an optional between-session project (advanced projects available for the audacious).

Session 2: Sep 15

Advanced Reasoning Models and Deep Research

• Present advanced reasoning models and their strengths and weaknesses .
• Compare outcomes with standard models versus reasoning models.
• Review and discuss example deep research reports.
• Use AI to craft a super-fabulous prompt for an improved deep research outcome.
• Leave with an optional between-session project (advanced projects available for the audacious).

Session 3: Sep 22

Equipping your Assistant with a Custom Persona and Custom Knowledge

• Open by sharing stories, questions, and discussion
• Explore what becomes possible when you give your AI assistant a custom persona.
• Equip it with a set of custom knowledge – also provided by you.
• Test drive your own distinctive, personally crafted AI assistant.
• Experience the difference that a custom persona and custom knowledge can make.
• Leave with ideas for creating and experimenting with 2-3 custom assistants of your own making.

Session 4: Oct 6

AI for Data Exploration

• Your instructors will demonstrate a custom project involving data exploration.
• You will learn of available data sources and the types of data files they may contain.
• You will leave with an assignment to find and collect some data that interests you to bring for our next session. (You may want to see what headway you and your AI assistant can make with it!).

Session 5: Oct 13

Agent Mode: Exploring New Capabilities

• Learn how to enable and use Agent Mode in ChatGPT and similar capabilities of other assistants.
• Automate multi-step tasks with real-time web and file access.
• Discover examples of advanced, autonomous AI workflows.

Session 6: Oct 20

AI and Human Flourishing

• Examine the risks of AI adoption for us as individuals and communities.
• Consider research and case studies that illuminate dangers lurking in naïve and unthinking AI adoption.
• Press further and examine research and cases that offer glimmers of hope for a more promising future.
• Explore tested practices for using AI to support personal growth and societal benefits.
• Articulate a set of personal techno-moral virtues to cultivate as you continue to work with AI.