Abstract
The advent of AI, more specifically Chat GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformers) and other LLMs (Language Learning Models) has created an exigence for academia to come up with ways to integrate AI into academia. As Chat GPT is an AI that is focused on creating text it should be the field of Composition and Rhetoric that considers how academia can use this technology as a resource to aid student literacy. I propose an assignment to get the process of redesigning a FYW (First Year Writing) course started. My assignment is based on my experience as a TA (Teaching Associate), the Sacramento State University standard FYW course, and many articles and books on AI and algorithmic literacy. I focus on the first unit of this hypothetical course to lay the groundwork for a full course on AI literacy. I focus first on teaching algorithmic literacy via the Google search engine (a very familiar tool to the average student) to ease them into the idea of the brain in the machine that is the algorithm.
This unit focuses on cultivating digital literacy at the level of awareness, which is necessary for students to use AI and other algorithmically-based programs effectively. So that if the teacher wishes to then transition them to using Chat GPT they can do so easily and with the student knowing more about what makes Chat GPT function.