When I applied for the position of Digital Skills AI Intern in the summer of 2024, I never imagined that a summer internship would grow into a full year of hands-on experience. What began as a temporary role evolved into an incredible journey—one where I’ve had the chance to explore how generative AI can be integrated into education and the workplace in meaningful ways.

This post is a bit of a recap, and a bit of a reflection. It’s also an informal advice piece on working with text-based generative AI, especially for those interested in applying it beyond the personal or experimental space.

One of the biggest shifts in mindset I encountered during my internship was the way people perceive generative AI. There’s a lingering notion that it’s mostly a novelty—a personal toy, a curiosity, or at best a productivity hack. But once you start using it deliberately, with intention and clarity, it becomes something else entirely: a genuine, transformative workplace tool.

My main responsibility has been crafting prompts tailored for the Digital Skills team and the broader digital learning community. Prompt design might sound simple, but there’s an art and science to it. A well-crafted prompt can unlock entirely new workflows, boost creativity, or streamline hours of effort into just a few clicks. It’s about asking the right questions and shaping the AI’s responses to meet very specific needs—whether it’s summarizing documents, generating course materials, or even helping someone plan their learning journey.

I have had an amazing time working with the Digital Skills team, and the team has been very supportive to me as well. There are lots of interesting ideas that I have collected and turned into prompts from the team, and I am also happy to see people so accepting of this new technology. If you’re considering an internship with this team, I can’t recommend it enough. You’ll not only get the chance to work with cutting-edge tools, but you’ll also be part of a culture that encourages experimentation, curiosity, and growth. Not only that, but you’ll also get to contribute to making the experience of Edinburgh students better! I know I’ve reflected issues about generative AI and coursework experiences in general to the team, and I have been given opportunities to use that as a basis of my work.

Over the past several months, I have crafted a number of prompts, starting with the auto-scheduler, the summarizer, the course material brainstorm, and the one I’m most proud of – the learning path curator. It’s a prompt that allows one to craft their own learning path based on their starting point, their goals, and their preferences of courses. As I am writing this, I am also finalizing a prompt that I call the “Feynmann tutor”, which is a study “buddy” that utilizes the Feynmann technique (i.e. teach what you learn) to help one consolidate their knowledge; I am also doing a final research project on how to improve accessibility using generative AI tools.

I think there’s always a preconception that text-based generative AI has no place in academia – and I understand that. Copyright issues and other ethical issues plague the current AI systems, and it is so easy to march into plagiarism when one is using AI haphazardly. But I believe that with the right set of prompts and with the right mindset, it could be a huge boon in academia circles and workplace circles. What you have right now is a virtual agent that can help summarize, proofread, rate, and offer advice on any piece of writing or material you give it, without needing to wait or schedule a time slot, and it’s active 24/7.

It’s a tool—nothing more, nothing less. It doesn’t inherently know what’s right or wrong; that responsibility lies with the user. But in the hands of someone thoughtful and curious, it can become an all-rounding helper and give people the support they need, exactly when they need it. One just needs to know how to use it ethically and responsibly.

To wrap up this blog post, I’d like to provide some resources that you can use to learn more about generative AI and prompting:

Introduction to responsible use of Generative AI and ELM for staff (University of Edinburgh login required)

Introduction to responsible use of Generative AI and ELM for students (University of Edinburgh login required)

Introduction to Generative AI for Higher Education Professional Services Staff (University of Edinburgh login required)

Generative AI for Everyone (Coursera)

Prompting Guide 101 (Developed by Google, specifically for Google Gemini, but its contents can also be used on other text-based generative AI, such as our very own ELM)

That’s all! Thanks for reading!