AI Tools at the USD Media Lab
Certain text-to-multimedia prompt and creation tools are available for in-person use at the Media Lab in Maher Hall 176 to facilitate the completion of coursework and academic related projects.
Starter AI Tools for Students, Staff, and Faculty
Explore free beginner AI tools available to students, faculty, and staff that can be accessed with your .edu email account (or personal gmail for Sora). These resources support conceptualizing ideas through short video clip creation, assistance with presentation ideas, draft visual concepts, image creation and image editing through text prompts.
- Nano Banana (Text to Image)
- Canva AI (Text to Image)
- Gemini Slides (Text to Slide)
What is Nano Banana?
Nano Banana is the internal codename for the Google Gemini 2.5 Flash Image model, a state-of-the-art generative AI that focuses on high-fidelity image generation and conversational editing. You will know if you are using Nano Banana if you see a banana icon.
What Can Nano Banana Do?
- Generate high-fidelity images from text prompts.
- Perform conversational editing by allowing users to make complex changes using text prompts (e.g., swapping backgrounds or fixing sections of images).
How to Get Started
- Use the Gemini App: Access the technology through the Gemini app, which is available as a mobile app and desktop website.
- Use Google Photos: Its capabilities are also being integrated directly into Google Photos via the "Help me edit" feature in the top right.
USD-Recommended AI Resources
To empower our students, faculty, and staff, the University of San Diego provides access to a powerful suite of Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI) platforms that are integrated with your USD account to enhance research, automate tasks, summarize information, and fuel innovation.
- Google Gemini
- Google Notebook LM
- Microsoft Copilot
- Zoom AI Companion
Why These Tools Are More Secure
These tools are more secure and protected because they are licensed and configured for USD. These tools:
- Do not use any USD data to train their underlying models.
- Comply with USD’s privacy and data security standards.
Data Protection for these tools is available for current students, faculty (full-time and part-time), and staff to engage and experiment with AI in a protected environment as instructed below.
Future AI Initiatives
- We are always exploring new AI tools and will share them here as they are curated.
- Future drop-in hours for demo sessions will be announced here as part of our upcoming AI Sandbox Sessions.
For questions, reach out to facultysupport@sandiego.edu.
Learning AI at USD
- For current in-person and self-paced AI training resources at USD, visit the AI@USD page.
- Google Gemini
- Notebook LM
- Microsoft Copilot
- Zoom AI Companion
- Additional Tools & Privacy
What is Gemini?
Gemini is Google's flagship generative AI assistant approved for use with confidential university data. Use it for brainstorming, content refinement, deep research, and image generation with enhanced security and direct integration with your USD Google Workspace.
What Can Gemini Do?
- Summarize your USD email, calendar, and Drive documents. Draft emails, papers, or code while maintaining USD security standards.
- Use tools for research, deep learning, instructional and writing draft concepts.
- Brainstorm creative ideas and generate and edit images or presentations.
How to Get Started
- Go to gemini.google.com
- Log in using your USDOne email credentials (username@sandiego.edu)
- Enter a prompt or explore the creating, writing, researching, and learning tools available to the left or below the prompt window.
*Tip: You can also find the Gemini app in the App Store for your mobile device or access Gemini through your USD Gmail at the top right under the Google Apps. See our Google Gemini instruction guide.
Google Gemini FAQ
Prompting Tip: Define Your Constraint
| Prompt Quality | Prompt Example | Why it Works (or Fails) |
| Basic Prompt(Low Quality) | “Tell me about the Roman Empire.” | This is too broad. The AI will provide a generic, high-level summary that is not tailored to your specific needs. |
| Effective Prompt(High Quality) | “I’m preparing a 10-minute presentation for my History 101 class on the Roman Empire. Could you help me outline the three most important factors that led to its decline, with concrete examples for each? Please provide a brief, attention-grabbing introduction for this presentation to my classmates.” | This prompt is effective because it provides context (presentation), defines the audience(classmates), sets the goal (three decline factors), and specifies the format (outline with examples, and an introduction). |
* Be aware that many AI tools are still developing, so expect occasional glitches and fast-paced updates.
Contact
Instructional Media Services – Media Lab
Maher Hall 176
(619) 260-4567 | ims@sandiego.edu