The Ohio State University’s new AI Fluency initiative, announced in June 2025, aims for the class of 2029 to graduate AI fluent. This autumn, an updated Launch Seminar will introduce artificial intelligence, giving new Buckeyes an early start to exploring AI and building the skills to responsibly lead and innovate in today’s world.
The Launch Seminar, part of Ohio State’s signature General Education Bookends experience, helps all first-year students explore their interests, build foundational skills, reflect on aspirations and connect with resources. Now, it also serves as a space for students to start exploring AI and how it intersects with their academic and career goals.
The Bookends team took advantage of a planned course revision to expand curriculum and incorporate elements of AI Fluency. Behind the scenes, work moved swiftly during the summer to develop foundational AI modules for the revamped course. More than 60 faculty and staff from across more than 10 units, including the College of Arts and Sciences, College of Pharmacy, the Drake Institute for Teaching and Learning, University Libraries, regional campuses, Ohio State Online, the Office of Technology and Digital Innovation and Undergraduate Education, contributed core ideas, wrote lessons, tested activities and built instructor resources to update and enhance the course, which included elements of AI. Thanks to their collaboration, this autumn, more than 160 Launch instructors across all campuses will be ready to support close to 5,000 students in developing foundational skills in AI Fluency.
What students will learn
The three new AI-infused Launch Seminar modules introduce students to what generative AI is and how it works, using AI effectively and ethically, and using AI thoughtfully throughout their university careers. The modules are tied to the six learning outcomes Ohio State expects all undergraduates to develop as part of the AI Fluency initiative.
Supporting instructors
To ensure a consistent experience across hundreds of seminar sections, Bookends instructors receive course training and resources. Shared guides, sample exercises, interactive modules, week-by-week lesson plans and supplemental materials provide a common foundation while allowing instructors to tailor activities to their students. Ongoing instructor support comes through a community of practice, with instructors collaborating in small teams guided by a team lead.
Aligning with the course’s emphasis on student-focused exploration of AI and its potential to support their learning and professional development, Bookends instructors are not expected to be AI experts. Instead, the course goals focus on providing students with foundational knowledge and resources to foster meaningful conversation and exploration.
By introducing AI early in their studies, Ohio State is giving first-year students a foundation to explore, question and use AI thoughtfully, setting them on the path to AI Fluency.