TRACES Inspires Next Generation of Innovators at St. Paul’s College Careers Day with Cutting-Edge AI Literacy Workshop

TRACES, an undergraduate-led education initiative dedicated to interdisciplinary innovation, successfully hosted a dynamic workshop as part of its "AI Literacy Series" during the St. Paul’s College Careers Day. The event, titled "Transdisciplinary Nature of AI and Society," engaged students in a deep exploration of how artificial intelligence is fundamentally reshaping the modern world.

The workshop provided students with a comprehensive look at the building blocks of AI—data, algorithms, and computational power—positioning AI literacy as a core competency for future careers. Participants moved beyond the "hype and fear" narratives often found in media to understand the practical reality of AI as a pattern-recognition and optimization tool.

Key highlights of the workshop included:

• Deep Dive into Large Language Models (LLMs): Students explored the mechanics behind revolutionary systems like ChatGPT and DeepSeek. The session explained how these models predict the "next word" based on probability and how settings like "temperature" can shift an AI’s output from predictable and safe to creative and surprising.

• AI Across Disciplines: Demonstrating the transdisciplinary nature of the technology, the workshop showcased AI’s impact on healthcare (medical diagnosis), history (OCR in historical documents), government policy, and education (AI marking).

• Societal Implications & Ethics: The session tackled the complex challenges posed by AI, including privacy and surveillance, job displacement, and the ethical use of autonomous systems in global conflict.

• Hands-on Innovation: Students engaged in interactive activities, including a "Human LLM" storytelling exercise and a practical demonstration using Google’s Teachable Machine to build and test their own classification models.

About TRACES

TRACES is an undergraduate-led initiative committed to fostering innovation and academic excellence. The organization empowers emerging scholars through three core pillars:

• Annual Academic Conferences: Providing a prestigious platform for transdisciplinary research and knowledge exchange.

• Workshops: Engaging students with cutting-edge topics, including AI and drone technology, to build practical skills for the future.

• Project Showcasing and Publishing: Offering students unique opportunities to present and publish original work, bridging the gap between classroom learning and professional contribution.

Through events like the AI Literacy Series, TRACES continues to equip students with the critical thinking and technical skills necessary to navigate and lead in an AI-driven society.