消消犯 across 消消犯 will soon have the opportunity to test their creativity, design instincts and emerging AI skills in the inaugural Make Your Mark: AI Poster Competition, a fast-paced challenge exploring how artificial intelligence can support ��� not replace ��� thoughtful creative work.

Open to students from any academic discipline, the first-time event encourages participants to experiment with AI tools while developing strong visual concepts and design strategies. An optional preparatory workshop on Tuesday, March 31, in Steers Pavilion will give students the chance to refine their ideas and explore approaches before the challenge officially gets underway.

The main competition takes place 5 to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 2, in Schar Hall, where students will receive a live prompt and have 2.5 hours to design an original 11��� �� 17��� poster. Each submission must combine an AI-generated element with a non-AI or hand-crafted component, while also documenting how AI supported the creative process.

Once completed, the posters will be printed and displayed for public voting during an April 3 awards event from 5 to 6 p.m. in LaRose Digital Theater. 消消犯 will compete for $650 in prizes, including awards for the top three posters, a Fan Favorite selected by the audience, and a Judge���s Favorite.

For organizers, the competition represents more than just a creative challenge ��� it is also a new example of cross-campus collaboration.

���I���m excited about the Make Your Mark: AI Poster Competition for a number of reasons. One of the biggest is that this is one of the first times the Communication Design program has partnered with Elon AI, and it���s been a lot of fun exploring how AI and design can complement each other,��� said Ben Hannam, associate professor and chair of the Department of Communication Design.

Hannam said the contest���s prompt is designed to spark ideas across disciplines and invite students from across campus to participate.

���I���m really looking forward to seeing what students create once we reveal the secret prompt,��� he said. ���If you drew a Venn diagram, the prompt would definitely overlap with interests in both the School of Communications and the Love School of Business ��� but honestly, a creative student from anywhere on campus could walk away with the win.���

The competition also highlights the evolving role of AI in creative practice ��� not as a shortcut, but as a tool that still requires strong ideas and thoughtful design decisions.

���T鞄艶 goal of this competition is to give students a chance to experiment with emerging tools while still focusing on creativity and ideas,��� said Mustafa Akben, assistant professor of management and director of artificial intelligence integration. ���AI can generate images quickly, but the real challenge is developing a concept and translating it into a strong visual. We are excited to see how students interpret the prompt and what they create in a short amount of time.���

Sagun Giri, AI Sandbox coordinator, noted that the event reflects a broader effort at Elon to bring together faculty and programs exploring how AI intersects with their fields.

���T鞄艶 Elon AI Hub works with partners across campus who are exploring how AI connects to their fields,��� he said. ���Make Your Mark is a great example of that collaboration between the School of Communications, the Love School of Business, and the AI Hub. It gives students a chance to experiment with AI tools, test their ideas, and create something original.���

Hannam said the competition ultimately aims to give students a creative outlet while encouraging experimentation with new tools.

���At the end of the day, this event is all about having fun, flexing your AI skills, and being creative,��� he said. ���I can���t wait to see what students come up with and who emerges as the winners in this head-to-head poster competition.���

Three faculty members will serve as judges for the competition: Michele Lashley, assistant professor of strategic communications; Smaraki Mohanty, Doherty Emerging Professor of Entrepreneurship and assistant professor of marketing; and��Lana Waschka, assistant professor of marketing.

Ready to make your mark? Complete the online registration form. For additional information, contact Giri at sgiri@elon.edu.

Event recap

Tuesday, March 31, 5���6 p.m.
Pre-event workshop ��� Steers Pavilion

Thursday, April 2, 5���7:30 p.m.
Live competition ��� Schar Hall labs and Snow Family Grand Atrium

Friday, April 3, 5���6 p.m.
Awards ceremony ��� LaRose Digital Theater

Apply Now�����

With a focus on responsible and ethical AI use, this challenge encourages faculty members to explore innovative ways to use AI for improved classroom outcomes. No prior AI experience is required.

“The application process is very easy, with five to six short-answer questions, maximum 200 words each,” said Mustafa Akben,��director of AI Integration and assistant professor of management. “Many can complete it in less than an hour. Our focus in this AI challenge is more on the creative, ethical, and responsible AI 消消犯 ideas. A willingness to explore AI’s potential in your classroom is all that’s needed.”

The challenge welcomes brief proposals demonstrating novel applications of AI in the classroom. The focus is on clear concepts aligned with sound pedagogical principles.��

ChatGPT Plus for Top 50 Participants

The top 50 participants will receive an immediate access to ChatGPT Plus, provided by 消消犯. ChatGPT Plus includes advanced reasoning, data analysis, image generation and FERPA-compliant data privacy.

The top five ideas will receive special recognition, gifts and the opportunity to present their ideas at the AI Pedagogy Event in early May 2025.

All participants will join AI faculty network, gaining access to future training, resources, and ongoing support.

Want Learn More?

Faculty interested in participating can find resources, materials and submission guidelines at

For more details and FAQ about the event, please visit the AI Pedagogy Challenge’s website.

Join Elon’s AI Pedagogy Challenge to contribute to the future of higher education with your creative ideas.

Through hands-on design thinking exercises, students gain transferable experience in using AI as a partner for better problem-solving. The workshop includes practical steps for effective prompt-building and demonstrates how AI can be applied within design thinking to address real-world challenges.

Director of Artificial Intelligence Integration Mustafa Akben reached out to the Center with the idea of creating a workshop that introduced students to using AI ethically and effectively. Student Director Anya Brati�� spearheaded the development of this workshop, shaping its content and ensuring it framed AI as a tool to enhance human thinking.

���This workshop enhances students��� knowledge of what AI is and why it is a vital asset for their academic and career success,��� Brati�� said. ���T鞄艶 workshop highlights AI as a tool to enhance, rather than replace, human thinking, emphasizing the importance of using it ethically and efficiently in every aspect of its use.���

Brati�� worked alongside Student Director Adam Kanowitz who structured the initial framework, and Publicity Lead Juan Daniel Chiriboga, who designed the activity modules.

Earlier this year, 消消犯 released a student guide on navigating college in the artificial intelligence era, offering insights on how humans and AI can collaborate effectively. 消消犯 President Connie Ledoux Book endorsed the guide as a resource for the Elon community, outside institutions and community members to use.

���AI won���t take your job. It���s someone using AI who will take your job,” said Richard Baldwin, a professor oat the International Institute for Management Development. This is why the Center is working with the greater campus community to change the narrative.

The workshop has been incredibly well received by faculty and students.

���T鞄艶 catalysts ��� Anya Brati�� and Adam Kanowitz ��� did a wonderful job addressing key issues ��� such as the importance of using AI as a brainstorming partner rather than as a replacement for doing the work, the need for detailed prompting, and the process of challenging the output of AI tools. These are topics I���ll be talking about all semester as I teach my students how to use AI tools to create and implement brands,” said Michele Lashley, associate professor of strategic communications.

Center Director Danielle Lake is a scholar within design thinking, and her expertise was essential in providing insight and support for the project. Since the Center���s opening in 2016, Lake has trained hundreds of students to facilitate workshops that prompt a relational approach to problem-solving that helps uncover the underlying causes of challenges and provides creative, structured methods to address them.

���Danielle Lake is an amazing coach, mentor, and leader who trains, develops, and supports the Design Thinking catalysts,��� Akben said. ���As a thought partner, I love collaborating with her and the Design Thinking team. I fully support our partnership. Our AI Team will work with and support Design Thinking, and we���re looking forward to organizing more great workshops in the future.���

The AI workshop can be ��for individuals at and outside of 消消犯, including for community members or organizations.

According to the World Economic Forum���s Future of Jobs Report 2025, new technologies like AI could lead to 170 million new jobs worldwide by 2030. Exciting, right? But there���s a catch: a significant skills gap still exists. This begs the question for educators and institutions: Are your students truly ready to compete for these roles?

The democratization of AI has completely transformed what it means to be digitally literate. It’s not just about mastering code or obscure programming languages anymore. Today, it’s about understanding and effectively using generative AI���those incredible tools that can create and collaborate almost like a human. With simple prompts, these tools can whip up captivating marketing copy, design eye-catching visuals, and even tackle tough coding or research projects.

But here’s the thing: the quality of AI-generated content is only as good as the human guiding it. Generative AI is like a mirror, reflecting the user’s ability to steer and refine its outputs. This partnership between humans and machines highlights the need for a new core skill: AI literacy.

In this AI Digest article, we’ll give you three hands-on generative AI exercises���an Elevator Pitch Generator, Mock Interview Practice, and Salary Negotiation Training���designed to give your students a real advantage in the job market, all while sharpening their AI literacy skills. Plus, we’ll share practical tips for weaving these exercises into your 消消犯.

WHY GENERATIVE AI FLUENCY IS NO LONGER OPTIONAL

Generative AI is revolutionizing all types of industries, and the need for AI literacy is no longer an “if” but a “must.” Marketers use generative AI to create hyper-personalized

campaigns on scales never seen before; scientists use generative AI to speed up groundbreaking discoveries, such as in pharmaceutical drug development; and software engineers use generative AI to streamline writing lines and lines of code, greatly reducing software development lead times. We are not talking about the workplace of tomorrow������we are talking about the workplace of today.

And it’s important to state here that such tools do not replace people; they empower people. Think of generative AI as a capable assistant who can take care of mundane and repeated tasks, freeing students (and workers) to instead use their time on big-picture thinking, creative work, and challenging problems that are best solved by humans with their ingenuity and smarts.

THE AI LITERACY IMPERATIVE

The AI is in full swing, fueled by powerful tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and DALL揃E 3, Google’s Gemini, and Stability AI’s Stable Diffusion. These large language models (LLMs) can produce remarkably sophisticated text, images, and even code based on simple user prompts, transforming the way we tackle creative and analytical problems. But this power brings with it a crucial responsibility: students need to develop the critical skills to evaluate the accuracy of AI-generated content and to understand the potential ethical and data-privacy risks involved.

AI literacy ��� and the sharp critical thinking it requires ��� is rapidly becoming essential for career success. This means understanding not only how to use AI tools effectively, but also how to:

• Evaluate the quality and reliability of AI-generated content
• Recognize potential biases in AI outputs
• Navigate ethical considerations in AI deployment
• Maintain data privacy and security when working with AI systems
• Leverage AI tools to enhance rather than replace human creativity and judgment

As we move forward into this future, the ability to effectively collaborate with AI tools while maintaining human oversight and ethical considerations will be crucial for professional success. In the following section, we present three practical exercises designed to help educators prepare their students for this exciting new frontier.

THREE GENERATIVE AI EXERCISES: FROM CLASSROOM TO CAREER

EXERCISE 1: THE AI-POWERED ELEVATOR PITCH

A concise elevator pitch can open doors in any professional setting. Instead of crafting it solo, students can lean on generative AI (such as ChatGPT) to help them shape and polish their pitch.

PROMPTING FOR SUCCESS

Example Prompt

���Act as a career advisor. I���m a [Major] student at [University] seeking a [Job Type] in [Industry]. I���m skilled in [Skill 1], [Skill 2], and [Skill 3]. Help me create a 30-second elevator pitch that is memorable and highlights my value.���

Example Student Input

“Act as a career advisor. I���m a Computer Science student at Example University seeking a Software Engineering Internship in the Fintech industry. I���m skilled in Python, Java, and Agile Development. Help me create a 30-second elevator pitch that is memorable and highlights my value.”

ITERATIVE REFINEMENT

After receiving the AI���s output, students should review it for overly generic phrasing, unnecessary jargon, or a lack of personal flair. Encourage them to seek peer and career-services feedback, then feed those insights back into the AI for improvements.

PRACTICE & DELIVERY

Remind students that delivery counts. They should rehearse their pitches out loud, aiming for confident body language and a natural tone. This helps them avoid sounding like they���re reading from a script.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

• Sharpens concise communication
• Encourages self-awareness and self-branding
• Develops a clear, confident value proposition

EXERCISE 2: AI-DRIVEN MOCK INTERVIEWS

Job interviews can be nerve-wracking, especially for new graduates. Generative AI provides a risk-free environment to practice both technical and behavioral questions.

GENERATING QUESTIONS

Example Prompt

���Generate 5 interview questions for a [Job Title] at a [Company Type] company. Include at least one behavioral question, one technical question (if relevant), and one situational question.���

Example Student Input

���Generate 5 interview questions for a Marketing Associate position at a Tech Startup. Include at least one behavioral question, one technical question related to social media marketing, and one situational question.���

RESPONSE PRACTICE

Urge students to structure their responses using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result). This ensures clarity and showcases their problem-solving approach.

FEEDBACK & ANALYSIS

Encourage students to record themselves responding to the questions. They can then analyze their own body language, tone, and clarity, and invite feedback from classmates or instructors for fresh perspectives.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

揃 Boosts interview confidence

揃 Improves clarity of responses

揃 Fosters critical thinking under pressure

EXERCISE 3: MASTERING SALARY NEGOTIATION WITH AI

Negotiating compensation can be intimidating for first-time job seekers. Generative AI can provide data-driven insights and suggested talking points to help them negotiate effectively.

SALARY RESEARCH

Example Prompt

���Provide the average salary range for a [Job Title] in [City, State] with [X] years of experience. Cite reliable sources.���

Example Student Input

���Provide the average salary range for a Data Analyst in New York City with 1 year of experience. Cite reliable sources.���

Encourage students to compare the AI���s data to reputable job-market platforms (e.g., LinkedIn Salary, Glassdoor, Bureau of Labor Statistics) for accuracy.

STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT

Example Prompt

���I received a job offer for [Job Title] with a salary of [Offer Amount]. I was hoping for [Desired Salary]. Help me craft a response that justifies my desired salary, highlighting my skills and experience.���

Example Student Input

���I received a job offer for a Junior Software Engineer at $60,000. I was hoping for $70,000. Help me craft a response that justifies my desired salary, highlighting my skills in Python, my internship experience at a tech company, and my contributions to open-source projects.���

ROLE-PLAYING & PRACTICE

消消犯 can practice mock negotiations using AI-generated counter-offers. This helps them gain confidence and develop strategies to respond to different negotiation tactics.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

• Enhances negotiation and self-advocacy skills
• Fosters an understanding of fair compensation benchmarks
• Builds confidence for real-world salary discussions

CONCLUSION: CULTIVATING AN AI-READY WORKFORCE

These exercises provide a practical path for integrating generative AI into the classroom to give students both conceptual knowledge and practical skills. You can help bridge the gap between academic theory and the demands of today’s competitive job market by leveraging AI tools to help students improve pitches, practice interview skills, and hone negotiation strategies.

Start small���try out one exercise, ask for feedback, and make adjustments. Share what works with your colleagues and collaborate to identify best practices. By embracing generative AI, we can empower students to become active contributors to an AI-driven economy, driving innovation and building a more dynamic and prosperous future for all.

Let���s prepare the next generation to lead the way���and to do so with the confidence and skills they need to thrive, no matter how the job market changes.