MAHENDERGARH, 20.08.25-The Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at the Central University of Haryana (CUH) organized a workshop on “AI Literacy: Scope and Opportunities” on Wednesday, August 20, 2025. Designed to make students AI literate and future-ready, the session combined interactive discussions, live demonstrations, and hands-on activities.

The workshop was led by Dr. Ashok Kumar, Associate Professor & Head, DJMC, who emphasized the rising significance of artificial intelligence in professional and personal life. “AI is the Excel and PowerPoint of the 21st century,” he remarked, highlighting how AI has become a fundamental tool for efficiency and productivity.

The initiative was conducted under Google’s programme “ADiRA” (AI for Digital Readiness & Advancement). Led by DataLEADS, ADiRA trains healthcare practitioners and media professionals across India in practical AI skills to boost efficiency, embrace technology, and stay future-ready. The programme forms part of the AI Opportunity Fund Asia Pacific, in collaboration with AVPN and supported by Google.org and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Students and faculty members from departments including Geography, Education, and Journalism and Mass Communication participated enthusiastically. The workshop unfolded in three key modules: Understanding AI, Generative AI and Prompting, AI Tools and Applications, and Generative AI in the Media Industry. During the session, Dr. Kumar presented industry insights showing that 79% of the media industry is already using Generative AI. Current applications include:

He further explained the difference between Traditional AI and Generative AI. Traditional AI excels at learning from data to classify information or predict outcomes, while Generative AI goes further—creating summaries, uncovering hidden patterns, and generating new content like text, images, and videos. The Generative AI Paradox. Dr. Kumar also discussed the positives and negatives of the Generative AI paradox. The positives include enhanced creativity, automation of repetitive tasks, increased productivity, personalized content, and improved efficiency across various industries. Negatives – risk of misinformation, bias in outputs, job displacement concerns, over-reliance on algorithms, and ethical dilemmas around originality and authorship.

Dr. Kumar underscored that AI is reshaping communication, journalism, healthcare, and education. Quoting futurist Ray Kurzweil, he reminded participants that AI is expected to surpass human intelligence by 2045, urging them to prepare for the future. The session also featured live demonstrations of ChatGPT, Gemini, MidJourney, and DALL·E, along with group discussions, brainstorming exercises, and best practices for AI prompting.