UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — When you co-create art with artificial intelligence (AI), do you own the art? Who is the artist: you or the machine? Does society view art differently when it’s created with the aid of AI? These are just a few of the questions students can explore in a new course offered by the Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology (IST) beginning this fall.

The course, “Emerging Technologies in Popular Culture” (IST 130), invites undergraduate students in any major to dive into the questions, opportunities and challenges related to generative AI. The course equips students to create and critique AI-generated artistic expressions in art, writing, music and games. It also examines the ethical questions — such as those involving plagiarism, ownership, copyright and the definition of art itself— arising in response to evolving AI technology.

“This survey course explores the generative AI used to produce and consume popular cultural artifacts,” said Erica Fleming, assistant director of teaching and learning for the College of IST, who will teach the course. “The content and assignments are directed at helping students to both create and critique digital media in ways that demonstrate their understanding of, engagement with, and reflections upon what it means to be an artist.”

The course involves significant student and instructor interaction with computers and digital media, according to Fleming. Students will create artistic digital expressions in text, music, interactive media and graphic art and evaluate art generated by fellow students. They will participate in individual and team-based learning activities that demonstrate their competence in the terminology, concepts, theories and methodologies used within the discipline of AI and the arts.

“Creating and consuming art is an important facet of what it means to be human,” Fleming said. “This course asks students to wrestle with the complexities of this important social and cultural moment as generative AI increasingly impacts both emerging technologies and popular culture.”

The introductory class meets Penn State requirements for a general education course in art. More information can be found on the course website.