Over Coffee® is on hiatus this week. Please enjoy this reposting of one of our top episodes of 2024.

“Right now, I feel we’re exploring a new frontier phase of AI and the arts," says Jeannine Flores.

In her role as Arts and STEAM Coordinator in Los Angeles County Office of Education‘s Center for Distance and Online Learning, Jeannine draws on her background in music and performing arts, as well as her 19 years teaching school in Orange County.

And she considers artificial intelligence--when used ethically--a great tool for sparking creative ideas.

For anyone who fears having AI replace artists' creative input, her message is highly encouraging.

“The thing that’s missing (in AI-generated content) is the human component,” she says.

“That human connection to art, to music, to dance…whichever art form we’re looking at. We still need to have that human element.”

In this interview recorded in Spring, 2024, Jeannine offered a closer look at some of the ways educators and creatives can use AI ethically--and effectively!--during the creative process.