AI Fundamentals: Practical, Safe AI Use in Human Services

Course Overview

This interactive, full-day workshop introduces Health and Human Services professionals to the practical use of generative AI in the workplace. Designed for beginners, the course provides hands-on experience using AI tools to draft communications, summarize information, prepare for meetings and conversations, and synthesize content from multiple sources. Participants learn effective prompting techniques and strategies for improving AI-generated results.

The workshop also addresses responsible and ethical AI use, including verification methods, common limitations of AI-generated content, and data confidentiality considerations for public sector staff. Through real-world exercises and a capstone activity, participants apply AI to a current work task using a draft, review and revise process that emphasizes professional judgment, accuracy and accountability.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

  • Describe the basic concepts of artificial intelligence, machine learning and large language models, and identify common workplace AI tools.
  • Apply a structured prompting framework to generate effective AI outputs for professional tasks.
  • Use AI tools to draft, summarize, prepare and synthesize information relevant to Health and Human Services work.
  • Evaluate and verify AI-generated content for accuracy, quality and completeness using review and refinement techniques.
  • Apply appropriate confidentiality, privacy and responsible-use practices when working with AI tools.
  • Create a job-related work product using an AI-assisted draft, review and revision process.
  • Demonstrate a commitment to responsible and ethical AI use by balancing innovation, efficiency and professional judgment while maintaining accountability for all work products.
Course Code
512072