Course: Using Artificial Intelligence (AI 101) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Quinn
Module: Week 7 of 16 · Fall 2026 · in-person, two 75-minute sessions
Objective covered: Objective 3 — Use the full range of AI modalities (voice, audio, image, document) and match the right tool to the right task.

This file holds two pieces: (A) the Module 7 Overview page ("Start Here") and (B) the Welcome Announcement that drips out when the module opens. Dates assume a Tuesday/Thursday lecture pattern: Week 7 meets Tue Oct 13 and Thu Oct 15, work due Sunday Oct 18, 11:59 p.m.

(A) Module 7 Overview — Start Here

Welcome to Week 7: AI That Hears, Sees, and Reads

This is your home base for the week. Read it first, then work the checklist from top to bottom. Everything you need is linked inside the module. Bring your laptop — and ideally your phone — to class this week.

Most people still think of AI as a text box: you type, it types back. This week we break that picture wide open. Modern AI assistants and specialized tools can hear your voice, transcribe a recorded meeting, read a handwritten sticky note, analyze a PDF, and generate an image from a description. Understanding what each modality is, what it's good for, and what can go wrong is the heart of Objective 3.

The week also introduces a workflow that many professionals already rely on: record a meeting → transcribe it → feed the transcript to an AI → get a clean summary and action-item list. By Friday you'll have done this yourself, caught the errors in it, and fixed them.

The week's big question

"When AI can hear, see, read, and draw — what can I actually trust it to do, and what do I still have to check?"

By Sunday you'll be able to name the major AI modalities, describe what each does and where it fails, run the record → transcribe → analyze workflow with free tools, and give an evenhanded take on AI image generation.

By the end of this week, you can…

Use this as a checklist. If you can do all five out loud, you're ready for the quiz.

• [ ] Describe Skill 8 — voice prompting: use a chatbot's voice/audio input mode to have a spoken conversation and get a useful result.
• [ ] Run Skill 9 — the record → transcribe → analyze workflow: record a voice memo, transcribe it with a free tool, and have an AI produce a summary and action items.
• [ ] Name the key multimodal tasks: image-to-text, handwriting-to-text, image analysis, document/PDF analysis, and image creation — and match each to the right tool.
• [ ] Identify and fix transcription errors and summary fabrications that the AI introduces along the way.
• [ ] Weigh competing views on AI image generation — creative opportunity vs. harm to artists — with evidence on both sides.

What's due this week, and when

Work these in order — each one gets you ready for the next.

Reminder on how AI works in this course: you are required to use AI on the tutorial, discussion, assignment, practice, and Studio — that's the point. AI is not allowed on quizzes, the midterm, or the final. And every week you catch the AI's mistakes — this week you'll catch transcription errors and summary fabrications.

Late policy reminder: 10% off per day. If life happens, reach out before the deadline.

How to succeed this week

• Try the voice mode right now. Open any approved assistant, tap the microphone icon (if your browser and device allow it), and say something. Even 30 seconds of experience makes the lecture land much better.
• Memorize the modality list. Voice input, audio transcription, image-to-text, handwriting-to-text, image analysis, document/PDF analysis, and image creation. Each is a different capability; treat them that way.
• Respect the transcription step. Most people assume transcription is perfect. It isn't — especially with accents, technical terms, and crosstalk. Catching errors in the transcript before you analyze it is the discipline.
• Approach the image debate with curiosity. There are real artists who lost income to AI generators, and there are real people who gained creative access they never had. Both are true. Your job is to hold both, not pick a side by the title.
• Midterm is next week (Week 8). Use this week's Studio, quiz, and tutorial to consolidate Objective 3 — it's on the exam.

You don't need any special apps or paid subscriptions for this week. Free tools are all we need, and they're linked in the Studio and the readings. Come to class ready to record yourself speaking for 90 seconds.

(B) Welcome Announcement — Module 7

Release setting: post on the module's start day (offset = 42 days from course start), i.e., Tue Oct 13, 2026 — not before. If your platform won't preserve the scheduled date on import, post this as a draft labeled "Release: Tue Oct 13."

Subject: Week 7 — AI that hears, sees, and reads your documents 🎙️

Hi everyone,

Quick demo before we start: if you open any approved assistant right now and tap the microphone icon, you can talk to it instead of type. Most people have never tried this. Go ahead — ask it what we're doing in Week 7 by voice. I'll wait.

Back? Good. This week — Multimodal AI — we take AI off the text-only track and into the full range of what it can sense: voice prompting, audio transcription, image analysis, handwriting recognition, document reading, and image creation. These aren't just cool tricks; they're the capabilities that let AI actually sit in your workflow rather than being a side app you switch to.

The headline build this week: a workflow millions of professionals already use. You record a short voice memo (your own voice, your phone's recorder), run it through a free transcription tool, paste the transcript into an AI assistant, and ask for a summary and action items. Then you catch what it got wrong — because both the transcription and the summary will have errors, and finding them is the skill. That's Studio 7.

A heads-up about where we are in the term:
1. The midterm is next week (Week 8). It covers Objectives 1–3 (Weeks 1–7). This week's quiz, tutorial, and Studio are your best prep for Objective 3.
2. After the midterm, we move into the tool-landscape and verification weeks, then four deep weeks on Claude Cowork automation. The skills you build this week (multimodal, workflow design) carry into all of that.

Three things not to miss this week:
1. Studio 7 — record, transcribe, analyze, and catch the errors. Start this early; it has more moving parts than the previous Studios.
2. Discussion 7 — the AI image generation debate. Bring a real position; "both sides have a point" is a start, not a finish.
3. Quiz 7 (no AI allowed) — includes a matching question on tool → modality. Know your modalities cold.

Bring your phone or a headset to class Tuesday. We're recording live.

See you then,
Prof. Quinn