The Cyberpsychology of AI Creativity
This course examines what remains uniquely human about creativity as AI proliferates, blending cyber/AI psychology, aesthetics, and critical reflection to help learners rethink authorship, imagination, and collaboration with machines.
About This Course
This course explores the evolving relationship between human imagination and machine-generated creativity in the age of artificial intelligence. Starting with a psychological and philosophical grounding in human creativity and imagination, students will journey through the aesthetic, ethical, and labor dimensions of AI's impact on the creative process. Weekly sessions and guided practices blend theory, reflections, and discussions. Some hands-on experimentation with AI tools is explored later in the course.
Throughout this course, we ask questions such as:
- What defines creativity in a world of synthetic outputs?
- Can machines truly co-create, or are they mimicking us?
- Who owns creative labor in the age of algorithms?
By interrogating these questions, students will leave equipped not just with technical knowledge, but with a critical, ethical, and imaginative lens on the future of creativity.
Format:
- 8 weeks, 90-minute live sessions
- Weekly pre-readings or media viewings
- Small group creative exercises
- Final project or reflection
Who Is This Course For?
1. Emerging Creatives & Artists Curious About AI
- Writers, designers, illustrators, poets, and visual artists intrigued by how AI intersects with the creative process.
- The course introduces AI through a humanistic and creative lens, making it more accessible and less intimidating than purely technical training.
2. Students & Early-Career Professionals in the Arts, Media, or Humanities
- Undergraduate or graduate students in digital media, visual arts, creative writing, psychology, philosophy, or communication studies
- The course exposes timely debates about authorship, originality, and creativity in the age of machines; these topics are not often covered in traditional curricula
3. Lifelong Learners Interested in the Future of Creativity
- Adults or mid-career professionals seeking personal enrichment, especially those intrigued by art, ethics, and emerging technologies
- Course allows for exploration across hybrid topics and big questions like “What is creativity?” or “Can machines be imaginative?” without needing to learn Python or fine-tune models
What You'll Learn
- ✓Critically explore the psychological foundations of human creativity and understand key theories from humanistic and cognitive psychology to ground creative expression in a human-centered framework, independent of technology.
- ✓Explore how imagination fuels creativity and how both intersect with philosophical and psychological aesthetics, enabling students to articulate nuanced distinctions and understand the mechanized interpretations of these constructs in the context of AI
- ✓Analyze the concept of “synthetic creativity” and how generative AI simulates creative processes
- ✓Develop ethical awareness around AI as a creative collaborator or surrogate
- ✓Experiment with prompt engineering as a creative, iterative craft
- ✓Evaluate the sociocultural and economic impact of AI on creative labor
What's Included
Live Sessions
Interactive classes with your instructor
Session Recordings
Lifetime access to all recordings
Community Access
Connect with fellow learners
Certificate
Proof of course completion
Real-World Project
Exploring Co-Creation I: Prompt Engineering as Creative Craft Prompt engineering is rich enough to merit its own deep-dive because it embodies the craft of collaboration with machines, not just the output. Separating it from the broader topic of AI-human collaboration allows students to first build technical and conceptual fluency with generative systems before tackling the relational, ethical, and expressive dimensions of full-spectrum collaboration. Students will learn how word choice, structure, and specificity shape the outputs of AI models. Through hands-on activities, they will explore prompt crafting as a form of authorship, storytelling, and design thinking. Learning Objectives - Analyze the relationship between prompt design and AI-generated output. - Compose effective, stylistically rich prompts across modalities (text, image, video). - Use revision and iteration to improve prompt specificity and expressive intent. - Understand prompt engineering as a form of authorship and aesthetic direction. - Identify ethical considerations in the language and references used in prompting.
About the Instructor
Mayra Ruiz-McPherson, PhD(c), MA, MFA
Through guided reflection, visual exercises, and meaning-centered frameworks, Mayra supports students in cultivating clarity, nourishing agency, and developing deeper creative awareness in their personal and professional lives. Her teachings emphasize presence over performance, thoughtful inquiry over quick answers, and creativity as an iterative force and lifelong relationship rather than a fixed identity. As a Creativity Mentor and Visuality Coach who designs immersive, multidisciplinary experiences for creators and lifelong learners, her work bridges the psychological sciences (across neuro/cognitive, behavioral, social, cyber, and AI) with visual thinking, storytelling, and reflective practice. These robust, combined domains invite students to slow down, be more contemplative and intentional in their everyday experiences, notice more deeply, and reconnect with their inner creative intelligence beyond tools, trends or productivity and innovation culture.
$1295
Course fee
Starts
Monday, March 9, 2026
Course Details
All courses include live sessions, community access, and direct interaction with the instructor.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this a technical or coding-based AI course?
No. This is not a technical, coding, or engineering course. You do not need prior experience with AI tools, programming languages, or prompt engineering to participate. When AI tools are explored later in the course, they are introduced in a beginner-friendly, collaborative, and conceptual way. The emphasis is on psychological insight, authorship, ethics, and meaning, not technical mastery.
Do I need experience using AI tools like ChatGPT, Midjourney, or DALL·E?
No prior experience is required. Any hands-on exploration is designed for newcomers and framed as experiential inquiry, not skill training. Students are never evaluated on technical proficiency; only on reflection, insight, and engagement with course concepts.
What is the primary focus of the course if it’s not technical?
The course focuses on: - The psychology of human creativity and imagination - The concept of synthetic creativity - Aesthetic experience (human vs. machine-generated) - Ethical and labor implications of AI in creative fields - Human–AI collaboration as a psychological and cultural phenomenon Think of this as a human-centered, theory-informed exploration of creativity in the age of AI and not a how-to guide for using tools.
What are the guided creative practices mentioned in the course description?
Guided practices are optional, reflective, and embodied exercises designed to deepen understanding of course concepts. Several of these practices use analog methods, including collage-based reflection, to explore themes such as authorship, materiality, mediation, and meaning-making. These practices are intentionally low-pressure and exploratory and not about producing polished artwork. Additionally, please note guided practices are 100% optional, but strongly encouraged. Students who engage with them often report a deeper, more embodied understanding of the psychological and philosophical ideas discussed in class. If you prefer a more discussion and reflection-based experience, you can still fully participate without completing every practice.
Do I need to buy special art supplies or materials?
No. All guided practices rely on everyday, accessible materials; items you probably already have at home. No specialty tools, expensive supplies, or artistic background are required. A short materials list will be shared week by week to keep preparation simple and to align materials directly with each module’s themes.