Generative AI and Copilot: What is GenAI?

Module 1: What is Generative AI?

What's in this module?

• Introduction - What is Generative AI (gen AI)?
• How does Gen AI work?
• Prompt Engineering

By the end of this module you will be able to:

• Explain "generative AI" (gen AI) 
• Explain how Copilot and Chat GPT work
• Recognise gen AI has limits 
• Recognise gen AI (Copilot and Chat GPT) are tools - not a credible source of information 
• Understand how prompts work to improve outputs/responses from gen AI (prompt engineering)

If you would like to reuse any of our work, please attribute us under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).

We’re taking a collaborative approach to how we manage the use of gen AI and would like to hear your thoughts, concerns and questions. This will help us develop the right information and support for you.

Let us know what you think about this issue via this email: library@ecu.edu.au

This page last updated 12 February 2025