Guide to Using AI Tools in Your Presentation and Portfolio

Important: Creative Commons Content

✅ Creative Commons & Ethical AI Use – Always ensure that the media you use is either original, AI-generated, or properly licensed for reuse. If incorporating external images, videos, or sounds, check that they are Creative Commons (CC) licensed or royalty-free. You can find CC-licensed content at:

🔗 Creative Commons Search– A great resource for finding freely available images, videos, and sounds.

🔗 Unsplash, Pexels, Pixabay – Free-to-use high-quality images.

🔗 Freesound – A collection of CC-licensed sounds and music samples.

🔗 Openverse – A powerful search tool for CC-licensed media.

⚠️ Important: AI-generated media can sometimes include elements that resemble copyrighted works. Always check your outputs and avoid submitting content that could infringe on copyright or intellectual property laws.

Enhancing Your Work with AI

We encourage you to experiment creatively with AI tools to enhance your presentation and portfolio. We also recommend you consult the USYD AI in Education Canvas site. Some of the techniques we recommend are:

✅ Remediations – Convert content from one medium to another while keeping its essence intact. For example, turn a podcast transcript into an AI-generated animation, or transform a series of AI-generated images into a narrative video with AI-generated voiceovers.
✅ Merging Formats – Combining different media types (e.g., prompted text with sound, sound with video).

✅ Iterative Refinement – Use AI to generate an initial concept, then refine and evolve it across multiple iterations, tweaking prompts and settings. For example, generate a rough draft of an AI-generated video, then refine the visuals and script using different tools.

✅ AI-Generated Personas – Use AI to create virtual personas who can "present" your content. Generate AI voices and avatars to deliver your presentation in an engaging, unexpected way. Tools like HeyGen allow you to create realistic AI avatars that can speak your script in different languages.

✅ AI-Generated Soundscapes – Design custom soundscapes or music to enhance the emotional impact of your presentation. For example, use AI-generated music (Udio, Suno) or ambient sound design to reinforce your narrative and mood.

✅ Algorithmic Remixing – Take existing historical or cultural content (Creative Commons) and use AI to reimagine it from a different perspective. For example, reframe a classic painting as an AI-generated animation, or rewrite a famous speech using AI-generated poetry.

✅ Dynamic AI Collaboration – Engage in real-time collaboration with AI models to create something unexpected and interactive. For example, use AI-generated conversation tools to simulate a debate between two historical figures on a contemporary issue, or generate a chatbot that embodies the perspectives of different theorists from your readings.

These techniques will push your creativity even further, don't just use AI as a tool, use it as a collaborator! 🚀

Documenting Your AI Use

It is essential to clearly document how you have used AI tools in your work:

✅ Provide a clear description of all tools used.
✅ Include all AI prompts you used, with screenshots.
✅ List all software, platforms, and AI models used.

IMPORTANT: You must also submit the AI Use Acknowledgement Form with your portfolio assignments. [AI Use Acknowledgment Form – make sure you fill this out and upload with your portfolio!]

Best Practices for Using AI Ethically and Effectively

While AI tools can be powerful creative assistants, you remain fully responsible for the quality and accuracy of your work. Keep these key points in mind:

🔹 Always fact-check AI-generated content. AI models frequently make mistakes or generate misleading information. Verify all claims and references.
🔹 Understand what the AI is doing. AI is a tool, not a replacement for critical thinking. Engage deeply with the concepts rather than blindly accepting AI output.
🔹 Customize and refine your output. The best results come from iterating and refining your prompts and then editing and improving the AI-generated content yourself.
🔹 Be transparent about your AI use. Clearly document your process, prompts, and tools used so that your creative and analytical choices are visible.
🔹 AI-generated work must be your own. Do not simply copy and paste AI outputs. Remix, edit, and transform them into original work that reflects your critical engagement with the course material.
🔹 Respect ethical guidelines. Avoid using AI to generate misleading, harmful, or plagiarized content. AI should be a creative aid, not a shortcut for avoiding critical engagement.

AI Tools You Can Experiment With

Feel free to explore different AI tools to assist your creative process (this list is not exhaustive - do your own research!):

Generative AI (Text & Ideas)

ChatGPT – The one you all know, good for text generation and research (Free & Paid).
Claude – Frontier model with strong writing and coding abilities (Free & Paid).
Venice – Private and uncensored model designed for creativity and research (Free & Paid).
Gemini – Google's AI model for text, coding, and multimodal generation (Free & Paid).

AI Image Generation & Editing

Midjourney – High-quality proprietary image generation model with artistic styles (Paid).
Leonardo – High-quality image generation model for creative and professional use (Free & Paid).
NightCafe – Platform hosting multiple high quality open source image generation models and styles (Free & Paid).
Krea – Real-time image and video generation with creative control (Free & Paid).
Decoherence – Video and animation tool for artistic effects (Free & Paid).
Lexica – Image search and prompt-based creation (Free & Paid).
Magnific – Tool for upscaling and enhancing image details (Paid, with free trial).
ClipDrop – Image editing, background removal, and enhancement (Free & Paid).

AI Video Tools

Hailuo – High-end video generation with customizable cinematic effects (Free & Paid).
HeyGen – Avatar and lip-sync video creation for presentations and marketing (Free & Paid).
Runway – High-end video editing, text-to-video, and special effects (Free & Paid).
Kling – Video creation for storytelling and media production (Free & Paid).
Viggle – AI motion capture and animation tool for character rigging (Free & Paid).
Krea – Real-time AI-generated images and video with creative control (Free & Paid).
Pika – Video generator for animation, scene creation, and visual storytelling (Free & Paid).
Decoherence – Video effects and artistic animations (Free & Paid).
Plask – Motion capture and animation tool for 3D character rigging (Free & Paid).

AI Music Generation

Udio – Music generation tool that creates full-length songs in various genres based on text prompts (Free & premium versions).
Suno – Music generator that allows users to create original tracks from simple text descriptions (Free & premium versions).
MusicGen – Open-source AI model by Meta for generating music from text or melody input (Available via Hugging Face & Colab).

AI Audio & Voice Generation

ElevenLabs – Voice synthesis and text-to-speech tool that generates natural, human-like speech in multiple languages. Great for voiceovers, narration, and dubbing (Free & premium versions).

AI for Research & Information Retrieval

Perplexity – Search engine that provides cited, conversational answers to complex queries (Free & Pro versions).
Storm – Research assistant that helps summarize, analyze, and generate insights from documents and web content (Free & premium versions).
Elicit – Research tool that automates literature reviews by finding relevant papers and summarizing key insights (Free & paid plans).
Scite – Smart citation tool that analyzes how papers have been cited and whether they support or contradict claims (Free & Pro versions).

AI for Editing & Writing Enhancement

Grammarly – Writing assistant that helps with grammar, clarity, and style improvements in real-time (Free & Premium versions).

AI Transcription Tools

Otter.ai – Transcription tool that converts spoken language into text, ideal for meetings, lectures, and interviews (Free & Pro versions).

AI for Coding & Automation

Cursor – Code editor with autocomplete, debugging, and AI-assisted coding suggestions, built on OpenAI models (Free & Pro versions).
Screenshot to Code – Converts UI screenshots into functional HTML/CSS code using AI, streamlining front-end development (Free & Paid).

AI for Subtitles & Captions

Submagic – Tool for generating accurate, engaging subtitles and captions for videos, with automatic styling and translations (Free & Paid).

Experiment, document your process, and have fun pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with AI! 🚀