At a time when artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping the way we learn, work, and communicate, Howard University’s College of Engineering and Architecture (CEA) is leading a campus-wide effort to ensure that students, faculty, and staff are not only aware of these technologies, but also use them thoughtfully and effectively.
Through the CEA AI Tinkery Workshop Series, we Looking ahead instructor Howard Prioleau is leading a practical effort aimed at building AI literacy from the ground up, bridging technical depth and practical application.
“At Howard, we are committed to ensuring that artificial intelligence is deployed responsibly, informed and purposefully across campus,” he said. Talitha WashingtonPh.D., executive director of the Howard Center for Applied Data Science and Analysis and co-chair of the Howard University President’s AI Advisory Council. “We are grateful to CEA for bringing the AI Tinkery series to the Howard community and making AI more accessible, practical, and impactful for students, faculty, and staff.”
Prioleau, who is working towards a PhD in computer science specializing in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing, brings both research expertise and a passion for education to the series. His research work focuses on large-scale language models, including interpretability, reliability, and design, with the aim of making AI systems more reliable and tailored to human needs. This same philosophy underlies the AI Tinkery series, with an emphasis on clarity, engagement, and responsible use of emerging technologies.
The idea for this series was originated by Dr. Legando L. Burge, professor of computer science and member of the Howard University President’s AI Advisory Board, and is intended to strengthen understanding of AI across campus. Recognizing that conversations about artificial intelligence often go beyond basic knowledge, Priaulx suggested starting the series with an important first step: solving a puzzle. Before getting into advanced tools and applications, this series begins by addressing the basic question: “What is generative AI? How does it work?”
Mr. Prioleau and Mr. Burge hosted workshops in collaboration with Washington each semester this academic year. The first workshop, “AI Tinkery: Demystifying Generative AI,” to be held in fall 2025, positioned generative AI within the broader realm of artificial intelligence, data science, machine learning, and deep learning.
Participants gained a clear understanding of how generative AI systems are trained on large datasets to recognize patterns and produce outputs such as text, images, and audio. Equally important, the session revealed what these systems are not. They have no sentience and no real capacity for understanding. By distinguishing between abilities and misconceptions, this workshop provided participants with the knowledge they need to critically utilize AI tools, while recognizing both their strengths and limitations.
This session went beyond theory to introduce practical strategies for using AI effectively. Participants were guided through a framework of structured prompts that emphasized clarity of task, context, audience, constraints, and desired outcomes. This foundation reinforced the important message that generative AI is most powerful when used intentionally.
Building on this foundation, the Spring 2026 workshop “AI Tinkery: Prompt Engineering 101” shifted its focus to interaction and how users can communicate with AI systems to achieve better outcomes. Based on the idea that large-scale language models respond directly to input rather than think, the workshop emphasized precision as the basis for effective prompting. Participants learned how to structure prompts using three key components: task, context, and output, while incorporating guardrails such as tone, format, and scope to guide responses.
The session also introduced easy-to-use and powerful techniques such as zero-shot prompts and few-shot prompts, as well as multi-persona approaches that allow users to simulate diverse perspectives within a single query. Through an iterative improvement strategy, participants are encouraged to treat prompts as a skill that improves with practice and directly impacts the quality of results. The workshop culminated with the concept of building a reusable prompt library to help users move from impromptu experimentation to more strategic and efficient workflows.
Together, the AI Tinkery workshops reflect a broader shift in the way educational institutions approach emerging technologies: actively fostering understanding rather than simply adopting tools.
Resuming this fall, the series creates a space for exploration, critical thinking, and skill-building to enable members of the Howard community to participate informedly in the evolution of AI.
As artificial intelligence continues to shape the academic, professional, and social landscape, initiatives like the AI Tinkery series strengthen Howard University’s commitment to innovation, education, and accessibility. This series makes complex concepts approachable and actionable, giving participants the knowledge and confidence to navigate and define the future of AI.
