This course critically examines the intersections of artificial intelligence with creativity, cultural and arts education, literacies and language education. Students are introduced to foundational debates about AI, including key topics relating to cultural production, such as participatory authorship in digital storytelling, theories of machine creativity, and the ethical dilemmas surrounding plagiarism, copyright, and cultural bias. The course explores how learners encounter and use AI in post-digital contexts, and how cultural and educational institutions- including museums, publishers, EdTech resource developers, and educational spaces - integrate AI in their practices, with attention to inclusion, accessibility, cultural respresentation, and sustainability.

Pre-recorded 1-hour lectures (flipped classroom).

9 x 2-hour seminars and one on-site practice visit.  

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Assignment 1 (Summative, 25%): Critical Reflection / Case Study Analysis (1500 words or equivalent) Brief: Choose an AI-related cultural artefact, project, or tool and write a critical reflection analysing its implications for creativity and/or cultural education. Assessment weighting: 25% of the course grade.

Assignment 2 (Summative, 75%): Creative-Critical Project + Commentary (2500 words or equivalent in total) Brief: Produce a creative or practice-based piece that engages with AI and cultural education (for example, an AI-assisted short story or picturebook, a speculative museum exhibit, a learning unit/tool, a chatbot, an educational resource, or a digital storytelling prototype). This must be accompanied by a critical commentary (both elements will be equivalent of 2500 words). Assessment weighting: 75% of the course grade.  

1.⁠ â  Create knowledge of key theories influencing artificial intelligence, creativity, cultural and arts education, literacies and language education in Scotland and globally.

2. Examine and apply the ethical, moral, and legal implications of the practices of AI in cultural education, including algorithmic bias and questions of cultural representation, and the role of these in reshaping literacy, creativity, language learning, and cultural learning.

3.⁠ Develop a deep understanding of key developments for AI and cultural education and the societal implications of these, such as: participatory authorship in digital storytelling, theories of machine creativity, and the ethical dilemmas surrounding plagiarism, copyright, and bias.

4.⁠ â Identify, critically assess, and appreciate how learners encounter AI in post-digital contexts, and the role of cultural (e.g. museums and publishers) and educational institutions in multicultural contexts.

5. Integrate AI into professional practice, with attention to inclusion, accessibility, cultural representation, and sustainability. 

By the end of this course students will be able to:

1. Analyse critically theories of arts and cultural production, authorship, literacies, languages, and participation in relation to AI and digital technologies.  

1. Evaluate ethical, social, moral, legal and political implications of AI for cultural education, with attention to questions of power, equity, and inclusion.  

1. Appraise the ways AI is reshaping professional practice across cultural sectors (e.g. publishing, museums) and education, situating case studies within wider debates about creativity and cultural education.  

Design an original creative-critical work that demonstrates advanced engagement with both theoretical perspectives and practical applications of AI in cultural and educational contexts.