THURSDAYS, MAY 25th & JUNE 1st | You’ve seen the news about new AI programs that can write rap lyrics or college essays — even mourn lost socks in the style of the King James Bible. Some of these riffs are wildly entertaining. These programs can correct grammar, eliminate unnecessary words, and suggest examples. They can even inject a little humor into your prose. On the flip side, AI programs can't tell fact from fiction, and over reliance on these programs can take the creativity out of your writing.

In this two-session class, you’ll learn how you can work with some of the most widely used programs on writing projects including articles, email, memos, advertising copy, essays and even short stories. You’ll come away equipped to avoid plagiarism, “AI hallucination” and misinformation.

In the first 90-minute session, we will discuss the history of AI as applied to writing, and touch on the science behind it, learning its strengths and weaknesses. We will compare programs and their capabilities. Then we will undertake a series of experiments in real time. You will leave with specific writing assignments tailored to your objectives.

In the second 90-minute session, we will work with the texts produced by the AI programs, seeking to further improve them both with other software and with human skill. You will develop a practical plan for using this technology and guarding against its abuse.

Laird Harrison has spent his life teaching sentences to behave themselves. A genre-nonconforming writer, he has published essays in Salon and The Nation, poetry in Catamaran and Chinquapin, journalism in Time and Reuters. WUNC and KQED have broadcast his radio scripts. In 2012, Verdant Books published his novel, Fallen Lake. He has covered AI for Medscape Medical News and used it in his reporting. When not scaling the walls of the literary establishment, Laird has explored more the commercial purposes of prose, crafting ads, white papers and annual reports. He has taught writing at San Francisco State University, UC Berkeley Extension, Mediabistro and Royal Thimphu College.