Introduction to AI – How Can AI Fit Into My Life? (In-Person)
Spring (4-8 hours) | Registration opens Friday, March 6, 2026 12:00 AM EST
This four-session hands-on class will be your first step in understanding what Generative AI is, and how you can use it in your daily life. All but the third session will have a hands-on component. We will be using the free version of the Google Gemini system. Participants are expected to bring their own laptops or tablets.
The first session will be a hands-on session that will give you a definition of GenAI terms, such as LLM and machine learning, and a foundational understanding of how the different AI systems are used.
In the second session we’ll dig deeper into the uses of GenAI and will teach participants more advanced prompting techniques (how to talk to the AI program).
For the third session we’ll bring in speakers from different fields who are currently using AI to enhance their work.
Our final session will discuss future trends, inherent risks, and how the participant sees AI serving their needs – whether in a personal, business, creative, or technical environment.
This is a four-session course (8 hours total).
Simon Stone
Simon Stone is a Research Software Engineer for High Performance Computing and Artificial Intelligence at Dartmouth College who obtained his Doctorate in Engineering from TU Dresden, Germany.
Jean Brown
Jean Brown was the Executive Director of the Friends of Dartmouth Cancer Center for 17 years and thus was responsible for producing The Prouty (among other events). Previously, Jean was the Director of Public Relations for Slim-Fast Foods in NYC, for Lender’s Bagels in West Haven, CT, and was a partner in a Madison Avenue marketing public relations agency which promoted products, nationally. Her first “life” was as an actor in NYC.
A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, Jean moved to Hanover with her husband, Bill, and son, Ari, in 2002.
William Brown
Bill Brown currently works part time at Dartmouth College managing the digital library of campus engineering documents dating back to the late 1700s. Bill is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and was a nuclear submarine officer for five years. Upon leaving the Navy, he earned his MBA from the Tuck School at Dartmouth and subsequently worked in Operations for manufacturing companies such as Worthington Compressors, General Electric, and Slim-Fast foods. Returning to the Upper Valley in 2002 with his wife Jean and son Ari, he worked for the Institute for Security Technology Studies (ISTS) and later used his computer skills for a variety of departments on campus, implementing digital systems.
Barbara Knauff
Barbara Knauff is Dartmouth’s Associate Director, Educational Technologies and Academic Technology Programs whose PhD is from Yale University.