Generative AI Is More than a Tool- It’s a Digital Collaborator

Generative AI platforms like ChatGPT, Midjourney, and Synthesia transcend mere tools, becoming full digital collaborators in various domains across higher education. This shifts the way we approach student engagement and learning because it reorients how we think about and how students access disciplinary knowledge and practice. We aim to foster an in-depth discussion of how AI is transforming learning and enabling faculty to build better learning experiences where both human and machine iterate together in the creative process. This presentation will ground the conversation explicitly in a digital literacy frame, showcasing how we approach this transformation through the Digital Gardener Initiative at Indiana University, a university-wide, multicampus, multidisciplinary digital literacy program. In the program, we have oriented our discussion of generative AI around its potential to enable new approaches and enhance the development of student and faculty digital literacy competencies, digital creativity skills, and digital learning practices. Because of this digital literacy orientation, this presentation will also discuss how we build professional development opportunities to spark faculty to more fully integrate AI into their curriculum, leaning into full collaboration—and not just use—of this transformative technology.