57-561 AI & Creative Practice: Making and Thinking with Machines
3 units, Carnegie Mellon University
Image and music generators, large language models, and AI-assisted design tools are reshaping how art is made, performances are composed, and designers work. But what do these tools actually do—and what do they mean for your creative practice? Team-taught by a cohort of faculty from across the College of Fine Arts, and open to all CFA students, this interdisciplinary course introduces key ideas, tools, histories, and controversies surrounding contemporary AI systems, with an emphasis on their impact on creative practices and cultural production. Topics will include creative automation; AI and authorship; copyright and intellectual property; algorithmic bias and representation; surveillance and deepfake media; labor and creative economies; environmental costs of computation; and the historical relationships between art and intelligent machines. In dialogue with other students from across the College, you will consider what these technologies make possible, what they put at risk, and what to embrace, question, or refuse. Students will get hands-on experience with generative image, music, text, speech, and video systems through lightweight creative exercises and exploratory projects. Course activities will include readings, screenings, demonstrations, discussions, and short-format written responses shared through online discussion platforms. No technical or programming background is required.
Prerequisites: none listed
Offered: Fall 2026
Courseweave needs JavaScript to show sections, workloads and planning tools.