Applied Generative AI and Automation

Build Real AI-Powered Workflows, Chatbots, and Automations — No Guesswork, Just Hands-On Skills

Generative AI is transforming how businesses communicate, operate, and scale — and professionals who can build with it are in high demand. The Applied Generative AI and Automation course teaches you how to design and develop AI-powered workflows, automations, and applications using today's leading generative AI platforms and automation tools.

Through hands-on, project-based learning, you'll master prompt engineering, AI API integration, workflow automation, document intelligence, and multimodal AI. You'll build practical solutions like AI chatbots, automated communication systems, meeting assistants, accessibility auditors, and end-to-end business workflow automations — the same tools organizations are deploying right now.

Every module emphasizes practical implementation, ethical AI usage, and accessibility, so you graduate with more than knowledge: you leave with portfolio-ready AI projects that demonstrate real-world skills to employers and clients. Whether you're automating a single business process or architecting multi-step AI systems, this course gives you the applied skills to move from AI user to AI builder.
 

 Course Highlights

• Generative AI and LLM Fundamentals — how large language models work, prompt engineering, and AI workflow design
• AI API Integration — connecting generative AI to web applications programmatically and securely
• Workflow Automation with n8n — webhooks, triggers, and visual AI workflow orchestration
• AI-Powered Content Automation — content generation pipelines, social media automation, and multi-step AI chains
• Document Intelligence and RAG — Retrieval-Augmented Generation, embeddings, semantic search, and PDF chatbots
• AI Assistants and Structured Outputs — JSON outputs, task extraction, and reliability and hallucination handling
• Multimodal AI and Accessibility — vision-capable models, OCR, transcription, and accessibility auditing
• AI Agents and Advanced Automation — tool calling, memory and state, and multi-service orchestration
• Capstone Project — build, present, and refine a portfolio-ready AI automation project

Course Benefits

By the end of this course, you will be able to
 

• Design effective prompts that produce consistent, high-quality AI outputs for professional use
• Integrate generative AI APIs into web applications, tools, and business workflows
• Build automated workflows using modern platforms like n8n — connecting AI to email, documents, social media, and more
• Develop AI-powered assistants using structured outputs, external data sources, and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)
• Create multimodal AI applications that understand both text and images
• Evaluate AI-generated content for accuracy, bias, completeness, and reliability
• Apply ethical AI and accessibility best practices, including human-in-the-loop refinement strategies
• Graduate with portfolio-ready projects — such as a PDF chatbot, AI meeting companion, customer support assistant, or invoice processing system — that showcase your skills to employers

Course Details and Next Steps

• Course Typically Offered: Online during the Fall and Spring quarters. 
• Prerequisites: Basic familiarity with web technologies is helpful, but no advanced programming background is required. If you can navigate the web and are comfortable learning new tools, you're ready to build with AI.
• Next steps: Upon completion of this class, consider enrolling in other courses in Artificial Intelligence. 
• More information: Contact infotech@ucsd.edu to learn more about this course.