Course: Using Artificial Intelligence (AI 101) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Quinn
Module: Week 9 of 16 · Fall 2026 · in-person, two 75-minute sessions
Objective covered: Objective 3 — Work across modalities and choose the right AI tool for a given job from the current tool landscape.

This file holds two pieces: (A) the Module 9 Overview page ("Start Here") and (B) the Welcome Announcement that drips out when the module opens. Dates below assume a Tuesday/Thursday lecture pattern with Week 9 meeting Tue Oct 27 and Thu Oct 29, and end-of-week work due Sunday Nov 1, 11:59 p.m. Adjust the day-of-week and times to match your section.

(A) Module 9 Overview — Start Here

Welcome to Week 9: Picking the Right Tool for the Job

This is your home base for the week. Read it first, then work the checklist below from top to bottom. Everything you need is linked inside the module. Bring your laptop to class — we use these tools live.

The AI landscape is crowded and changing fast. Chatbots, image generators, music makers, video tools, research assistants, coding helpers — each was built for a different job, and reaching for the wrong one wastes time or produces garbage. The skill this week isn't knowing every tool by heart; it's knowing how to think about which tool fits a given task, and how to keep learning as the landscape shifts.

The week's big question

"With dozens of AI tools available, how do I know which one to reach for — and when is no AI tool the right answer?"

By Sunday you'll be able to map the major AI tool categories, match specific tools to specific jobs, explain why tool-hopping for its own sake is a trap, and name the tasks you'd never delegate to any AI.

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.

• [ ] Name the major AI tool categories — chatbots, image generators, audio/music, video, research, coding assistants — and give a real example of each.
• [ ] Match tool to job: pick the right tool for a given task and explain why it fits better than alternatives.
• [ ] Distinguish chatbots from specialized tools — why a chatbot and an image generator are not the same kind of thing, even if some products combine them.
• [ ] Catch a mis-matched tool choice — recognize when someone is using a general-purpose chatbot for a job a specialized tool handles better (or vice versa).
• [ ] Know when to hand nothing to AI — name tasks where human judgment, skill, or ethics makes AI delegation a bad idea.

What's due this week, and when

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

Reminder: AI is required on the tutorial, discussion, assignment, practice, and Studio. AI is not allowed on the quiz, which checks that you understand the concepts yourself.

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

How to succeed this week

• The categories first, then the names. Don't try to memorize every product. Lock in the categories (chatbot / image / audio-music / video / research / coding), then put 2–3 real tools in each bucket. The names will stick.
• Task-first thinking. When you see a new AI tool, ask: What specific job does this do best? What job would it do badly? That frame is more durable than any product list.
• Try the Studio early. Comparing two or three tools on the same task is the fastest way to learn what each is actually good at — and where each breaks. Give yourself enough time to be surprised.
• The "never" list is important. Knowing which tasks to keep away from AI is as important as knowing which to delegate. Come to class with at least one example you're ready to defend.
• This week's tools change fast. The links below go to official homepages. Descriptions on those pages reflect the tool's current state — that's more reliable than anything we could write here.

(B) Welcome Announcement — Module 9

Release setting: post on the module's start day (offset = 0 days), i.e., Mon Oct 26, 2026 — not before. If your platform won't preserve the scheduled date on import, post this as a draft labeled "Release: Mon Oct 26."

Subject: Week 9 — So many AI tools. Which one do you actually reach for?

Hi everyone,

Quick challenge before we start: name the last time you used an AI tool for something and it felt like overkill — or the wrong tool entirely. If you've never had that feeling, you may not be using a wide enough range of tools yet. That's what we fix this week.

Week 9 — The AI Tool Landscape — brings Skill 11 of our 13: knowing the major AI tool categories and being able to match the right tool to a specific job. The landscape right now includes general-purpose chatbots (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, Grok), specialized image generators (DALL·E, Midjourney, Adobe Firefly), audio and music tools (Udio, Suno, ElevenLabs), video generation (Sora), research assistants (NotebookLM), and coding helpers (GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Claude Code). Each was built for different jobs — and using the wrong one is as common as not using AI at all.

A heads-up: this is not a "use AI on everything" week.

Part of the discussion this week is naming the tasks you'd never hand to AI — the places where human judgment, skill, or ethics draws a hard line. Come ready to argue your list.

Three things not to miss:
1. Studio 9 — "Tool Bake-Off / Tool Map" — give the same prompt to two or three tools, or build your own personal "which tool, which job" map. Start this early — you can't rush a genuine comparison.
2. Discussion 9 — we debate "master one tool deeply vs. juggle many." Take a real position.
3. Quiz 9 (no AI) tests tool-category knowledge and tool→job matching — the most matching-heavy quiz so far.

Bring your laptop Tuesday and an opinion about which AI category is the most underrated.

See you then,
Prof. Quinn