Hands-on Skills
Your students will use AI at work. The question is whether they use it well.
Many students already use AI tools for assignments. At work the stakes are different: confidential data, customers, colleagues who rely on the output, and employer rules about which tools are allowed. A practitioner shows how they use these tools on ordinary tasks, where the output goes wrong, and the habits that keep a new joiner trusted.
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AI makes a careful worker faster. It makes a careless one visible.
AI tools can draft an email, summarise a document, suggest a formula or explain an unfamiliar term in seconds. They also produce wrong facts, invented references and confident answers to questions they have misunderstood. Somebody has to notice, and at work that somebody is the person who sent it.
Employers are also setting rules: which tools are approved, what data may be used, and what must be disclosed. A fresher who pastes a client's details into a public tool, or forwards unchecked output, can lose trust quickly. Using AI responsibly is now part of being employable.
What the session covers
30 topics across 6 areas. Six parts, practised on realistic tasks.
Where AI Genuinely HelpsOrdinary tasks, real time saved.6
- First drafts of emails and documents
- Summarising long material
- Explaining an unfamiliar topic
- Suggesting spreadsheet formulas
- Brainstorming options
- Reformatting and tidying text
Asking WellContext in, better output out.5
- Saying who the output is for
- Giving the relevant context, minus anything confidential
- Asking for a specific format
- Iterating rather than accepting the first answer
- Asking the tool what it is unsure about
Checking the OutputYou are responsible for what you send.5
- Facts, figures and names checked against a source
- References that actually exist
- Formulas tested on known data
- Tone appropriate for the reader
- Does it answer the actual question?
A plausible wrong answer is more dangerous than an obvious one, because nobody checks it.
What Never Goes InData you do not own.5
Many public tools may store or use what you type, depending on the tool and its settings. Unless your employer has approved a tool for that data, assume it should not go in.
- Customer and client details
- Colleagues' personal information
- Passwords, keys and internal links
- Unreleased financial or business information
- Anything your employer has marked confidential
Your Employer's RulesRead them before your first prompt.5
- Which tools are approved
- What data may be used with them
- Whether use must be disclosed
- Who to ask when it is unclear
- Rules that differ by client or project
If there is no policy, ask your manager. Asking is never the mistake.
Honesty and Your Own SkillsThe tool helps; you remain accountable.4
- Being open when work was AI-assisted
- Not presenting AI output as your own expertise
- Keeping the skills you need to check the tool
- AI in assessments and interviews: follow the stated rules
Tasks practised in the room
- Drafting and then editing a reply to a customer
- Summarising a long document and checking the summary
- Getting help with a spreadsheet formula and testing it
- Spotting the errors in a deliberately flawed AI answer
A short checklist participants keep
- Am I allowed to use this tool for this task?
- Have I removed anything confidential?
- Have I checked every fact, figure and name?
- Would I be comfortable telling my manager how this was made?
Who teaches it
- Working professionals who use AI tools daily
- Managers who review AI-assisted work
- Technology and data practitioners
- HR professionals who set or apply workplace policy
How the session runs
The practitioner demonstrates AI tools on ordinary work tasks, including the moments where the output is wrong, and talks through how their own workplace handles AI use. Participants then complete realistic tasks with a freely available tool, using only made-up or public data, and check each other's output against the checklist. The session does not promote any particular product.
What your students leave with
- Practical prompting on realistic work tasks
- A routine for checking AI output before using it
- A clear list of what should never be pasted into a tool
- An understanding of why employer policies on AI exist
- A sensible way to be open about using AI
- A view of the skills AI does not replace
Scheduled sessions
Nothing scheduled yet
Sessions are arranged with a college once a date is agreed. Ask us and we will find the right person for it.
A student rather than a college? See what is coming up, or ask your placement team to host this.
Use it to go faster. Check it before anyone else sees it.
Tell us who your students are and what stage they are at. Sessions are free for participants.