Artificial intelligence (AI) can often feel like a complex and abstract concept, more at home in sci-fi films than in our daily lives. This perception can make it challenging to teach, especially when it comes to its connection with art and creativity.

The Bigger Picture is exploring what if we shift the focus? What if we could help students see AI not as a futuristic fantasy but as a meaningful part of our contemporary world?

The Bigger Picture workshop offers a hands-on approach to demystifying AI and exploring its influence on creativity. This isn’t a technical deep dive but a creative and philosophical journey designed for a range of age groups. The goal is to raise awareness and curiosity, challenge misconceptions and encourage students to think critically about the technology that is increasingly becoming part of our lives.

Why Focus on AI and creativity?

Engaging students through the arts provides a unique and accessible entry point to a complex topic. By exploring how AI creates art, text or music, we can highlight key concepts like Generative AI and Explainable AI (XAI) in a relatable way. This approach encourages students to grapple with important questions: What does it mean for a machine to be “creative”? Where does the human touch end and the AI “contribution” begin?

This workshop is intentionally designed to be flexible, encouraging students to think critically and express their own perspectives. It’s a space for them to realise that the “rules” of this emerging technology are still being written—and that they have a role in shaping its future.

Workshop Breakdown: Conversation and Creativity

The workshop is structured around a series of engaging activities that build on each other, moving from broad ideas to specific concepts.

  • What is AI? We start by asking students for their initial thoughts on AI. This simple activity uses sticky notes and markers to quickly reveal their existing knowledge and any common misconceptions. It’s a fantastic way to meet students where they are and set the stage for the discussion.
  • The Walking Debate: This activity gets students on their feet, literally. By marking a “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree” line on the floor, we can facilitate a dynamic and respectful discussion about AI’s role in art. Students take a position and defend it, learning to listen to and understand diverse viewpoints on a complex topic.
  • Prompting: The Art of Clear Communication: Part of the workshop involves a hands-on activity. In this exercise, students pass a description of an image from one person to another, with each person drawing what they hear. This activity illustrates a fundamental principle of Generative AI: the importance of the prompt. Students see firsthand how information can be lost or misinterpreted and why clear, specific language is key.
  • The XAI Brainstorm: This activity introduces students to Explainable AI by asking them to brainstorm what makes AI “messy” “human” or “everywhere”. This exercise helps them think critically about AI’s inner workings, its biases and the often-unpredictable nature of its outputs.

By exploring these themes through art and creativity, students don’t just learn about AI, they engage with it on a personal level. They begin to see it not as a distant machine but as a tool with both human origins and human implications.

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