SEF-MLA7102 - AI for Automotive: AI & Effective Prompting
Course Description
This introductory workshop gives automotive professionals a practical understanding of generative AI and the key skill that determines whether it is useful: effective prompting. Participants learn what AI can and cannot do, where it is already showing up in automotive operations, and a repeatable prompting framework built around a simple idea: a prompt is a work order.
Through two hands-on exercises using real shop tasks, participants create, test, and refine their own prompts, leaving with practical prompts they can use immediately. The workshop prioritizes hands-on practice, real-world application, and responsible AI use over technical theory.
Learner Outcomes
Upon completion of this workshop, participants will be able to:
- Explain in plain language what generative AI does and does not do, and why it can be confidently wrong.
- Recognize where AI already touches an automotive business and identify the tasks where it can help next.
- Distinguish the main categories of AI tools and apply clear criteria for judging whether a tool fits their shop.
- Apply the CRAFT framework (Context, Role, Action, Format, Tone) to write prompts that produce useful output.
- Diagnose why a prompt produced a weak result and improve it through iteration rather than starting over.
- Identify situations where AI output must be verified, and apply the rule that the human decides and signs.
- Apply data-handling rules that keep customer and proprietary information out of public AI systems.
- Build a reusable prompt and begin a shared prompt library the whole shop can improve.
- Follow a simple 30-day plan to put one AI-assisted task into everyday practice.
Notes
Target Population
Automotive industry employees, supervisors, managers, business owners, service personnel, administrative staff, and other professionals interested in learning how AI can support their daily work.
Prerequisites
- Participants should have basic computer and internet skills.
- Familiarity with common workplace applications such as email, web browsers, and office productivity software is helpful.
- No previous AI experience is required.