Hidden Layer: Intellectual Privacy and Generative AI

The Hidden Layer Workshop introduces key generative AI (genAI) concepts through a privacy lens. Participants probe the possibilities and limitations of genAI while considering implications for intellectual privacy, intellectual property, data sovereignty, and human agency. An original PROMPT Design Framework and worksheet guide participants through the iterative process of prompting generative AI to optimize output by specifying Persona, Requirements, Organization, Medium, Purpose, and Tone. In the centerpiece activity, participants engage in a hidden layer simulation to develop a conceptual understanding of the algorithms in the neural networks underlying LLMs and their implications for machine bias and AI hallucination. Drawing on Richards’s theory of intellectual privacy (2015) and the movement for data sovereignty, and introducing an original framework for the ethical evaluation of AI, Hidden Layer prepares participants to be critical users of genAI and synthetic media.

The workshop is designed for a 60-minute session, but can be extended to fill the time available.
Includes workshop guide, presentation slides, learning activities, and assessment instrument.