CCN109 GenAI for Professional Communication
To view more information for this unit, select Unit Outline from the list below. Please note the teaching period for which the Unit Outline is relevant.
| Unit code: | CCN109 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisite(s): | 192 credit points of completed undergraduate study in KV40, OR admission into KC86, KC87, or KC88. |
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Timetable | Details in HiQ, if available |
| Availabilities |
|
Unit Outline: Semester 1 2027, Kelvin Grove, Internal
| Unit code: | CCN109 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Pre-requisite: | 192 credit points of completed undergraduate study in KV40, OR admission into KC86, KC87, or KC88. |
| Equivalent: | COMM0001 and COMM0002 and COMM0003 and COMM0004 |
| Coordinator: | Patrik Wikstrom | patrik.wikstrom@qut.edu.au |
Overview
Generative AI has moved from novelty to infrastructure in professional communication, and the useful question is no longer whether to use it but how to use it accountably. This unit builds that capability in two modules. The first is about working with these systems directly: understanding enough of how they are built to make informed choices between them, directing them precisely enough to get usable work, analysing real audience data with them, producing content against a real brief, and checking the results by methods you can defend to someone who asks. The second is about what changes when work is delegated to AI systems. Once an AI system completes a task without you reading every output, you need a way to know it is working, a decision about where a human intervention belongs, and a governance position for outputs you did not personally see.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Explain how contemporary generative AI systems are built and why their outputs vary, in terms adequate to make informed professional tool choices.
- Direct generative AI systems to produce audience analysis and communication assets that meet a specified brief, and verify the results by methods you can justify.
- Design a communication workflow that delegates defined tasks to AI systems, placing human oversight where consequence requires it.
- Evaluate the performance of an AI-supported communication workflow using a systematic method, and report the findings to a non-specialist audience.
- Apply current regulatory, ethical and organisational obligations to your own AI-supported communication practice, including disclosure, provenance, record keeping and incident response.
Content
The unit will cover the following topics:
How generative AI systems work, and how to choose between them.
AI-supported audience analysis
Producing on-brief content
Delegating communication tasks to AI agents
Designing and evaluating AI-supported workflows
Governance in practice
Learning Approaches
This unit is taught via a blended approach that combines elements of online delivery and face-to-face.
Learning activities include lectures and tutorials supported by additional online activities and materials. This approach requires students to complete online activities independently, prior to attending classes. In the internal offerings, classes are conducted face-to-face in collaborative learning spaces; in the online offerings, classes and learning activities are conducted online. Indicative learning experiences in this unit include:
participating in class/online tutorials
attending lectures
engaging with online learning materials
reading book chapters, scholarly and industry articles
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
You will receive feedback on your learning in a variety of ways, including:
- Informal formative feedback in tutorials,
- Self-assessment tools,
- Peer feedback,
- Formal written or recorded feedback on both formative and summative assessment tasks in addition to the grade on the Criterion Reference Assessment sheet.
Assessment
Overview
In this unit, you will be required to complete two main assessment items and one exam (invigilated):
In the first assessment you will use generative AI to analyse target audiences, create tailored content, and evaluate the social and ethical impacts of your work. The outcome of this assessment balances practical outputs with a critical commentary and governance plan, demonstrating both creative mastery and responsible communication practice.
In the second assessment you will design an AI agent that improves a complex communication task. You will build a portfolio that combines a rigorous blueprint, workflow integration, stakeholder analysis, governance safeguards and a balanced value case for the implementation. You will show not just how the agent works, but how it reshapes work, responsibility and trust.
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: Audience analysis and content creation
In this assessment you take a communication campaign from audience data through to finished assets, using generative AI at every stage and documenting how you did it. Working with a real dataset and a brief from your case organisation (or your own workplace), you will commission an analysis, build audience groupings and personas from it, test whether those personas actually came from your data, and then produce content that meets the brief. What is assessed is not the polish of the final assets. It is the quality of your reasoning: whether you checked what the AI gave you, whether you noticed when it was wrong, and whether you can account for the decisions you made along the way. You will also write the disclosure statement you would actually publish alongside this work.
Criteria
- Audience insight report
- Prototype and iteration excerpts
- Disclosure and provenance
- Critical note
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
The ethical and responsible use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools is authorised in this assessment. See the relevant assessment details in Canvas for specific guidelines.
Assessment: Agent workflow design and evaluation
In this assessment you design a communication workflow that delegates defined tasks to AI systems, build a working version of it, and then do the thing that separates professional practice from a demonstration: establish whether it works. You will write a set of test cases for your own workflow, run them against two configurations, and report what you found, including the cases that failed and the questions you could not answer. Alongside the design and the evaluation, you will produce a risk assessment that identifies what could go wrong and the specific controls you would put in place to reduce those risks. The evaluation report is the central component and it is marked on rigour rather than on outcome.
Criteria:
- Context & goals
- Workflow design
- Evaluation report
- Risk assessment
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
The ethical and responsible use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools is authorised in this assessment. See the relevant assessment details in Canvas for specific guidelines.
Assessment: Final examination
This examination tests two things: whether you know the core concepts of this unit well enough to use them, and whether you can exercise the judgement the unit teaches without the tools to hand. No devices, no internet.
Use of artificial generative intelligence (GenAI) is prohibited in this assessment.
The examination is invigilated, and you will be required to attend the campus or an assessment centre.
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is a commitment to undertaking academic work and assessment in a manner that is ethical, fair, honest, respectful and accountable.
The Academic Integrity Policy sets out the range of conduct that can be a failure to maintain the standards of academic integrity. This includes, cheating in exams, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion and contract cheating. It also includes providing fraudulent or altered documentation in support of an academic concession application, for example an assignment extension or a deferred exam.
You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.
Breaching QUT’s Academic Integrity Policy or engaging in conduct that may defeat or compromise the purpose of assessment can lead to a finding of student misconduct (Code of Conduct – Student) and result in the imposition of penalties under the Management of Student Misconduct Policy, ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.
Risk Assessment Statement
All on-campus students are required to complete the online General Health and Safety Induction for access to campus buildings and facilities.
You are advised to back-up your digital files on a regular basis to ensure work is not lost if there is a hardware failure. Information about the free file storage provided by QUT for students is available from HiQ.
There are no out of the ordinary risks associated with this unit.
Course Learning Outcomes
This unit is designed to support your development of the following course/study area learning outcomes.KC86 Graduate Certificate in Digital Communication
- Critique scholarly research in digital communication.
Relates to: ULO1, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Propose data-driven solutions to contemporary communication issues
Relates to: ULO4, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Analyse data using industry standard tools and platforms
Relates to: ULO2, Audience analysis and content creation, Final examination - Analyse critical issues in media and communication industries.
Relates to: ULO1, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Tailor culturally appropriate communication strategies and content for a variety of audiences and formats.
Relates to: ULO3, ULO4, ULO5, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation
KC87 Graduate Diploma in Digital Communication
- Critique scholarly research in specialised and contemporary digital communication areas.
Relates to: ULO1, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Independently propose data-driven solutions to contemporary communication issues
Relates to: ULO4, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation - Analyse data using industry standard tools and platforms leveraging advanced capabilities
Relates to: ULO2, Audience analysis and content creation - Analyse critical issues in media and communication industries with consideration for diversity.
Relates to: ULO1, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Tailor culturally appropriate communication strategies and content for a variety of audiences and formats.
Relates to: ULO3, ULO4, ULO5, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation
KC88 Master of Digital Communication
- Critique and engage in scholarly research in specialised and contemporary digital communication areas.
Relates to: ULO1, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Independently propose innovative, data-driven solutions to contemporary communication issues
Relates to: ULO4, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation - Analyse data using industry standard tools and platforms leveraging advanced capabilities to address industry and research problems
Relates to: ULO2, Audience analysis and content creation - Evaluate critical issues in media and communication industries.
Relates to: ULO1, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Tailor and implement culturally appropriate communication strategies and content for a variety of audiences and formats.
Relates to: ULO3, ULO4, ULO5, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation
KV40 Bachelor of Communication
- Demonstrate capacity to understand and critique the historical, cultural, technological, and regulatory implications of digital media, communication, and news industries.
Relates to: ULO1, Audience analysis and content creation, Final examination - Demonstrate capacity to evaluate and apply specialised knowledge (including scholarly research) in digital media, communication, and/or news industries, including the relationship between disciplinary theory, research methodologies, and professional practice.
Relates to: ULO1, Audience analysis and content creation, Final examination - Demonstrate effective communication skills with the ability to adapt culturally-appropriate strategies across different media and professional settings and for diverse audiences.
Relates to: Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Critically analyse, evaluate and synthesise complex forms of information, including using industry standard tools and data-driven evidence, to inform decision-making and argumentation to solve industry and research problems.
Relates to: ULO2, ULO4, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Critically interrogate the economic and cultural power of digital media, communication, entertainment, and news to make ethical, sustainable, and inclusive contributions to diverse workplaces, communities, and audiences.
Relates to: ULO5, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Demonstrate critical digital literacy skills across diverse platforms and technologies, including familiarity with analytic tools to effectively and responsibly interpret data in the media, communication, and news industries.
Relates to: ULO2, ULO4, ULO5, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Create authentic and professional-quality communication outputs that reflect an application of academic content, critical thinking skills, and social awareness.
Relates to: ULO3, ULO4, ULO5, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination
Unit Outline: Semester 1 2027, Online
| Unit code: | CCN109 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Pre-requisite: | 192 credit points of completed undergraduate study in KV40, OR admission into KC86, KC87, or KC88. |
| Equivalent: | COMM0001 and COMM0002 and COMM0003 and COMM0004 |
Overview
This unit explores the applications of generative AI (GenAI) in professional communication contexts. It equips participants with the skills to effectively use, integrate, and critically evaluate GenAI tools for various professional communication purposes. The unit first introduces participants to the opportunities and risks of using GenAI for audience analysis and for crafting data-driven, targeted messaging using text, sound, and images. Then, participants explore how to integrate GenAI technologies into communication workflows. The module covers how to audit GenAI outputs, navigate associated ethical and regulatory considerations, and manage unexpected organisational consequences.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Understand the fundamentals, scope, and historical development of GenAI within professional communication.
- Use GenAI tools effectively for audience analysis and communication evaluation.
- Use GenAI tools to create, refine, and edit professional-standard written and multimedia content.
- Integrate GenAI tools effectively into enterprise communication workflows.
- Conduct thorough evaluations and audits of AI-generated content for quality, accuracy, and appropriateness.
- Articulate ethical considerations and regulatory risks when preparing an organisation for effective integration of state-of-the-art GenAI systems.
Content
The unit will cover the following topics:
- Are GenAI tools truly intelligent?
- Targeted Messaging using AI-Generated Data-driven Personas
- Creating On-Brief Content with GenAI Tools
- GenAI agents in communication workflows
- Orchestrating agent-led communication workflows
- Ethical, regulatory and organisational considerations
Learning Approaches
This unit is taught via a blended approach that combines elements of online delivery and face-to-face.
Learning experiences in this unit include:
- participating in class/online tutorials
- attending lectures
- engaging with online learning materials
- reading book chapters, scholarly and industry articles
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
You will receive feedback on your learning in a variety of ways, including:
- Informal formative feedback in tutorials,
- Self-assessment tools,
- Peer feedback,
- Formal written or recorded feedback on both formative and summative assessment tasks in addition to the grade on the Criterion Reference Assessment sheet.
Assessment
Overview
In this unit, you will be required to complete two main assessment items and one exam (invigilated):
In the first assessment you will use GenAI to analyse audience data, craft AI-generated content, and then interrogate the social and ethical ripples your work creates. The outcome of this assessment balances practical outputs with a critical commentary and governance plan, demonstrating both creative mastery and responsible communication practice.
In the second assessment you will design an AI agent that improves a communication task. In this project you will build a portfolio that combines a rigorous blueprint, workflow integration, stakeholder analysis, governance safeguards and a balanced value case for the implementation. You will show not just how the agent works, but how it reshapes work, responsibility and trust
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: GenAI for Audience analysis and Content creation
Task: Participants use GenAI to analyse audience data, craft AI-generated content, and then interrogate the social and ethical ripples your work creates. The participants’ portfolio balances practical outputs with a critical commentary and governance plan, demonstrating both creative mastery and responsible communication practice.
- Criteria:
- Clarity of campaign context
- Rigour of audience analysis & bias check
- Quality & brand fit of content prototypes
- Depth of impact & ethics commentary
- Practicality of governance checklist
- Reflection & presentation quality
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
The ethical and responsible use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools is authorised in this assessment. See the relevant assessment details in Canvas for specific guidelines.
Assessment: Designing, Orchestrating, and Governing an Agent-Led Communication Workflow
Task: Participants design an AI agent that genuinely improves a communication task and examine its wider effects. The participants’ portfolio combines a rigorous blueprint, workflow integration, stakeholder analysis, governance safeguards and a balanced value case. They showcase not just how the agent works, but how it reshapes work, responsibility and trust.
Criteria:
- Clarity of context & goals
- Technical soundness of blueprint & orchestration
- Depth of impact & stakeholder analysis
- Practicality of governance plan
- Balanced value analysis
- Reflection & presentation quality
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
The ethical and responsible use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools is authorised in this assessment. See the relevant assessment details in Canvas for specific guidelines.
Assessment: Communicating with GenAI - Key concepts
An exam will assess your understanding of key concepts introduced and discussed.
The use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools is prohibited during this assessment.
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is a commitment to undertaking academic work and assessment in a manner that is ethical, fair, honest, respectful and accountable.
The Academic Integrity Policy sets out the range of conduct that can be a failure to maintain the standards of academic integrity. This includes, cheating in exams, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion and contract cheating. It also includes providing fraudulent or altered documentation in support of an academic concession application, for example an assignment extension or a deferred exam.
You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.
Breaching QUT’s Academic Integrity Policy or engaging in conduct that may defeat or compromise the purpose of assessment can lead to a finding of student misconduct (Code of Conduct – Student) and result in the imposition of penalties under the Management of Student Misconduct Policy, ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.
Risk Assessment Statement
All on-campus students are required to complete the online General Healrh and Safety Induction for access to campus buildings and facilities.
You are advised to back-up your digital files on a regular basis to ensure work is not lost if there is a hardware failure. Information about the free file storage provided by QUT for students is available from HiQ.
There are no out of the ordinary risks associated with this unit.
Course Learning Outcomes
This unit is designed to support your development of the following course/study area learning outcomes.KC86 Graduate Certificate in Digital Communication
- Critique scholarly research in digital communication.
Relates to: ULO1, Designing, Orchestrating, and Governing an Agent-Led Communication Workflow, Communicating with GenAI - Key concepts - Propose data-driven solutions to contemporary communication issues
Relates to: ULO4, GenAI for Audience analysis and Content creation, Designing, Orchestrating, and Governing an Agent-Led Communication Workflow - Analyse data using industry standard tools and platforms
Relates to: ULO2, GenAI for Audience analysis and Content creation - Analyse critical issues in media and communication industries.
Relates to: ULO1, GenAI for Audience analysis and Content creation, Designing, Orchestrating, and Governing an Agent-Led Communication Workflow, Communicating with GenAI - Key concepts - Tailor culturally appropriate communication strategies and content for a variety of audiences and formats.
Relates to: ULO3, ULO4, ULO5, ULO6, GenAI for Audience analysis and Content creation, Designing, Orchestrating, and Governing an Agent-Led Communication Workflow
KC87 Graduate Diploma in Digital Communication
- Critique scholarly research in specialised and contemporary digital communication areas.
Relates to: ULO1, Designing, Orchestrating, and Governing an Agent-Led Communication Workflow, Communicating with GenAI - Key concepts - Independently propose data-driven solutions to contemporary communication issues
Relates to: ULO4, GenAI for Audience analysis and Content creation, Designing, Orchestrating, and Governing an Agent-Led Communication Workflow - Analyse data using industry standard tools and platforms leveraging advanced capabilities
Relates to: ULO2, GenAI for Audience analysis and Content creation - Analyse critical issues in media and communication industries with consideration for diversity.
Relates to: ULO1, GenAI for Audience analysis and Content creation, Designing, Orchestrating, and Governing an Agent-Led Communication Workflow, Communicating with GenAI - Key concepts - Tailor culturally appropriate communication strategies and content for a variety of audiences and formats.
Relates to: ULO3, ULO4, ULO5, ULO6, GenAI for Audience analysis and Content creation, Designing, Orchestrating, and Governing an Agent-Led Communication Workflow
KC88 Master of Digital Communication
- Critique and engage in scholarly research in specialised and contemporary digital communication areas.
Relates to: ULO1, Designing, Orchestrating, and Governing an Agent-Led Communication Workflow, Communicating with GenAI - Key concepts - Independently propose innovative, data-driven solutions to contemporary communication issues
Relates to: ULO4, GenAI for Audience analysis and Content creation, Designing, Orchestrating, and Governing an Agent-Led Communication Workflow - Analyse data using industry standard tools and platforms leveraging advanced capabilities to address industry and research problems
Relates to: ULO2, GenAI for Audience analysis and Content creation - Evaluate critical issues in media and communication industries.
Relates to: ULO1, GenAI for Audience analysis and Content creation, Designing, Orchestrating, and Governing an Agent-Led Communication Workflow, Communicating with GenAI - Key concepts - Tailor and implement culturally appropriate communication strategies and content for a variety of audiences and formats.
Relates to: ULO3, ULO4, ULO5, ULO6, GenAI for Audience analysis and Content creation, Designing, Orchestrating, and Governing an Agent-Led Communication Workflow
KV40 Bachelor of Communication
- Demonstrate capacity to understand and critique the historical, cultural, technological, and regulatory implications of digital media, communication, and news industries.
Relates to: ULO1, GenAI for Audience analysis and Content creation, Communicating with GenAI - Key concepts - Demonstrate capacity to evaluate and apply specialised knowledge (including scholarly research) in digital media, communication, and/or news industries, including the relationship between disciplinary theory, research methodologies, and professional practice.
Relates to: ULO1, GenAI for Audience analysis and Content creation, Communicating with GenAI - Key concepts - Demonstrate effective communication skills with the ability to adapt culturally-appropriate strategies across different media and professional settings and for diverse audiences.
Relates to: ULO6, Designing, Orchestrating, and Governing an Agent-Led Communication Workflow, Communicating with GenAI - Key concepts - Critically analyse, evaluate and synthesise complex forms of information, including using industry standard tools and data-driven evidence, to inform decision-making and argumentation to solve industry and research problems.
Relates to: ULO2, ULO4, GenAI for Audience analysis and Content creation, Designing, Orchestrating, and Governing an Agent-Led Communication Workflow, Communicating with GenAI - Key concepts - Critically interrogate the economic and cultural power of digital media, communication, entertainment, and news to make ethical, sustainable, and inclusive contributions to diverse workplaces, communities, and audiences.
Relates to: ULO5, ULO6, Designing, Orchestrating, and Governing an Agent-Led Communication Workflow, Communicating with GenAI - Key concepts - Demonstrate critical digital literacy skills across diverse platforms and technologies, including familiarity with analytic tools to effectively and responsibly interpret data in the media, communication, and news industries.
Relates to: ULO2, ULO4, ULO5, GenAI for Audience analysis and Content creation, Designing, Orchestrating, and Governing an Agent-Led Communication Workflow, Communicating with GenAI - Key concepts - Create authentic and professional-quality communication outputs that reflect an application of academic content, critical thinking skills, and social awareness.
Relates to: ULO3, ULO4, ULO5, GenAI for Audience analysis and Content creation, Designing, Orchestrating, and Governing an Agent-Led Communication Workflow, Communicating with GenAI - Key concepts
Unit Outline: Semester 1 2027, Online
| Unit code: | CCN109 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Pre-requisite: | 192 credit points of completed undergraduate study in KV40, OR admission into KC86, KC87, or KC88. |
| Equivalent: | COMM0001 and COMM0002 and COMM0003 and COMM0004 |
Overview
Generative AI has moved from novelty to infrastructure in professional communication, and the useful question is no longer whether to use it but how to use it accountably. This unit builds that capability in two modules. The first is about working with these systems directly: understanding enough of how they are built to make informed choices between them, directing them precisely enough to get usable work, analysing real audience data with them, producing content against a real brief, and checking the results by methods you can defend to someone who asks. The second is about what changes when work is delegated to AI systems. Once an AI system completes a task without you reading every output, you need a way to know it is working, a decision about where a human intervention belongs, and a governance position for outputs you did not personally see.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Explain how contemporary generative AI systems are built and why their outputs vary, in terms adequate to make informed professional tool choices.
- Direct generative AI systems to produce audience analysis and communication assets that meet a specified brief, and verify the results by methods you can justify.
- Design a communication workflow that delegates defined tasks to AI systems, placing human oversight where consequence requires it.
- Evaluate the performance of an AI-supported communication workflow using a systematic method, and report the findings to a non-specialist audience.
- Apply current regulatory, ethical and organisational obligations to your own AI-supported communication practice, including disclosure, provenance, record keeping and incident response.
Content
The unit will cover the following topics:
How generative AI systems work, and how to choose between them.
AI-supported audience analysis
Producing on-brief content
Delegating communication tasks to AI agents
Designing and evaluating AI-supported workflows
Governance in practice
Learning Approaches
This unit is taught via a blended approach that combines elements of online delivery and face-to-face.
Learning activities include lectures and tutorials supported by additional online activities and materials. This approach requires students to complete online activities independently, prior to attending classes. In the internal offerings, classes are conducted face-to-face in collaborative learning spaces; in the online offerings, classes and learning activities are conducted online. Indicative learning experiences in this unit include:
participating in class/online tutorials
attending lectures
engaging with online learning materials
reading book chapters, scholarly and industry articles
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
You will receive feedback on your learning in a variety of ways, including:
- Informal formative feedback in tutorials,
- Self-assessment tools,
- Peer feedback,
- Formal written or recorded feedback on both formative and summative assessment tasks in addition to the grade on the Criterion Reference Assessment sheet.
Assessment
Overview
In this unit, you will be required to complete two main assessment items and one exam (invigilated):
In the first assessment you will use generative AI to analyse target audiences, create tailored content, and evaluate the social and ethical impacts of your work. The outcome of this assessment balances practical outputs with a critical commentary and governance plan, demonstrating both creative mastery and responsible communication practice.
In the second assessment you will design an AI agent that improves a complex communication task. You will build a portfolio that combines a rigorous blueprint, workflow integration, stakeholder analysis, governance safeguards and a balanced value case for the implementation. You will show not just how the agent works, but how it reshapes work, responsibility and trust.
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: Audience analysis and content creation
In this assessment you take a communication campaign from audience data through to finished assets, using generative AI at every stage and documenting how you did it. Working with a real dataset and a brief from your case organisation (or your own workplace), you will commission an analysis, build audience groupings and personas from it, test whether those personas actually came from your data, and then produce content that meets the brief. What is assessed is not the polish of the final assets. It is the quality of your reasoning: whether you checked what the AI gave you, whether you noticed when it was wrong, and whether you can account for the decisions you made along the way. You will also write the disclosure statement you would actually publish alongside this work.
Criteria
- Audience insight report
- Prototype and iteration excerpts
- Disclosure and provenance
- Critical note
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
The ethical and responsible use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools is authorised in this assessment. See the relevant assessment details in Canvas for specific guidelines.
Assessment: Agent workflow design and evaluation
In this assessment you design a communication workflow that delegates defined tasks to AI systems, build a working version of it, and then do the thing that separates professional practice from a demonstration: establish whether it works. You will write a set of test cases for your own workflow, run them against two configurations, and report what you found, including the cases that failed and the questions you could not answer. Alongside the design and the evaluation, you will produce a risk assessment that identifies what could go wrong and the specific controls you would put in place to reduce those risks. The evaluation report is the central component and it is marked on rigour rather than on outcome.
Criteria:
- Context & goals
- Workflow design
- Evaluation report
- Risk assessment
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
The ethical and responsible use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools is authorised in this assessment. See the relevant assessment details in Canvas for specific guidelines.
Assessment: Final examination
This examination tests two things: whether you know the core concepts of this unit well enough to use them, and whether you can exercise the judgement the unit teaches without the tools to hand. No devices, no internet.
Use of artificial generative intelligence (GenAI) is prohibited in this assessment.
The examination is invigilated, and you will be required to attend the campus or an assessment centre.
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is a commitment to undertaking academic work and assessment in a manner that is ethical, fair, honest, respectful and accountable.
The Academic Integrity Policy sets out the range of conduct that can be a failure to maintain the standards of academic integrity. This includes, cheating in exams, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion and contract cheating. It also includes providing fraudulent or altered documentation in support of an academic concession application, for example an assignment extension or a deferred exam.
You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.
Breaching QUT’s Academic Integrity Policy or engaging in conduct that may defeat or compromise the purpose of assessment can lead to a finding of student misconduct (Code of Conduct – Student) and result in the imposition of penalties under the Management of Student Misconduct Policy, ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.
Risk Assessment Statement
All on-campus students are required to complete the online General Health and Safety Induction for access to campus buildings and facilities.
You are advised to back-up your digital files on a regular basis to ensure work is not lost if there is a hardware failure. Information about the free file storage provided by QUT for students is available from HiQ.
There are no out of the ordinary risks associated with this unit.
Course Learning Outcomes
This unit is designed to support your development of the following course/study area learning outcomes.KC86 Graduate Certificate in Digital Communication
- Critique scholarly research in digital communication.
Relates to: ULO1, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Propose data-driven solutions to contemporary communication issues
Relates to: ULO4, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Analyse data using industry standard tools and platforms
Relates to: ULO2, Audience analysis and content creation, Final examination - Analyse critical issues in media and communication industries.
Relates to: ULO1, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Tailor culturally appropriate communication strategies and content for a variety of audiences and formats.
Relates to: ULO3, ULO4, ULO5, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation
KC87 Graduate Diploma in Digital Communication
- Critique scholarly research in specialised and contemporary digital communication areas.
Relates to: ULO1, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Independently propose data-driven solutions to contemporary communication issues
Relates to: ULO4, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation - Analyse data using industry standard tools and platforms leveraging advanced capabilities
Relates to: ULO2, Audience analysis and content creation - Analyse critical issues in media and communication industries with consideration for diversity.
Relates to: ULO1, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Tailor culturally appropriate communication strategies and content for a variety of audiences and formats.
Relates to: ULO3, ULO4, ULO5, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation
KC88 Master of Digital Communication
- Critique and engage in scholarly research in specialised and contemporary digital communication areas.
Relates to: ULO1, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Independently propose innovative, data-driven solutions to contemporary communication issues
Relates to: ULO4, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation - Analyse data using industry standard tools and platforms leveraging advanced capabilities to address industry and research problems
Relates to: ULO2, Audience analysis and content creation - Evaluate critical issues in media and communication industries.
Relates to: ULO1, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Tailor and implement culturally appropriate communication strategies and content for a variety of audiences and formats.
Relates to: ULO3, ULO4, ULO5, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation
KV40 Bachelor of Communication
- Demonstrate capacity to understand and critique the historical, cultural, technological, and regulatory implications of digital media, communication, and news industries.
Relates to: ULO1, Audience analysis and content creation, Final examination - Demonstrate capacity to evaluate and apply specialised knowledge (including scholarly research) in digital media, communication, and/or news industries, including the relationship between disciplinary theory, research methodologies, and professional practice.
Relates to: ULO1, Audience analysis and content creation, Final examination - Demonstrate effective communication skills with the ability to adapt culturally-appropriate strategies across different media and professional settings and for diverse audiences.
Relates to: Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Critically analyse, evaluate and synthesise complex forms of information, including using industry standard tools and data-driven evidence, to inform decision-making and argumentation to solve industry and research problems.
Relates to: ULO2, ULO4, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Critically interrogate the economic and cultural power of digital media, communication, entertainment, and news to make ethical, sustainable, and inclusive contributions to diverse workplaces, communities, and audiences.
Relates to: ULO5, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Demonstrate critical digital literacy skills across diverse platforms and technologies, including familiarity with analytic tools to effectively and responsibly interpret data in the media, communication, and news industries.
Relates to: ULO2, ULO4, ULO5, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Create authentic and professional-quality communication outputs that reflect an application of academic content, critical thinking skills, and social awareness.
Relates to: ULO3, ULO4, ULO5, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination
Unit Outline: Semester 2 2027, Kelvin Grove, Internal
| Unit code: | CCN109 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Pre-requisite: | 192 credit points of completed undergraduate study in KV40, OR admission into KC86, KC87, or KC88. |
| Equivalent: | COMM0001 and COMM0002 and COMM0003 and COMM0004 |
Overview
Generative AI has moved from novelty to infrastructure in professional communication, and the useful question is no longer whether to use it but how to use it accountably. This unit builds that capability in two modules. The first is about working with these systems directly: understanding enough of how they are built to make informed choices between them, directing them precisely enough to get usable work, analysing real audience data with them, producing content against a real brief, and checking the results by methods you can defend to someone who asks. The second is about what changes when work is delegated to AI systems. Once an AI system completes a task without you reading every output, you need a way to know it is working, a decision about where a human intervention belongs, and a governance position for outputs you did not personally see.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Explain how contemporary generative AI systems are built and why their outputs vary, in terms adequate to make informed professional tool choices.
- Direct generative AI systems to produce audience analysis and communication assets that meet a specified brief, and verify the results by methods you can justify.
- Design a communication workflow that delegates defined tasks to AI systems, placing human oversight where consequence requires it.
- Evaluate the performance of an AI-supported communication workflow using a systematic method, and report the findings to a non-specialist audience.
- Apply current regulatory, ethical and organisational obligations to your own AI-supported communication practice, including disclosure, provenance, record keeping and incident response.
Content
The unit will cover the following topics:
How generative AI systems work, and how to choose between them.
AI-supported audience analysis
Producing on-brief content
Delegating communication tasks to AI agents
Designing and evaluating AI-supported workflows
Governance in practice
Learning Approaches
This unit is taught via a blended approach that combines elements of online delivery and face-to-face.
Learning activities include lectures and tutorials supported by additional online activities and materials. This approach requires students to complete online activities independently, prior to attending classes. In the internal offerings, classes are conducted face-to-face in collaborative learning spaces; in the online offerings, classes and learning activities are conducted online. Indicative learning experiences in this unit include:
participating in class/online tutorials
attending lectures
engaging with online learning materials
reading book chapters, scholarly and industry articles
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
You will receive feedback on your learning in a variety of ways, including:
- Informal formative feedback in tutorials,
- Self-assessment tools,
- Peer feedback,
- Formal written or recorded feedback on both formative and summative assessment tasks in addition to the grade on the Criterion Reference Assessment sheet.
Assessment
Overview
In this unit, you will be required to complete two main assessment items and one exam (invigilated):
In the first assessment you will use generative AI to analyse target audiences, create tailored content, and evaluate the social and ethical impacts of your work. The outcome of this assessment balances practical outputs with a critical commentary and governance plan, demonstrating both creative mastery and responsible communication practice.
In the second assessment you will design an AI agent that improves a complex communication task. You will build a portfolio that combines a rigorous blueprint, workflow integration, stakeholder analysis, governance safeguards and a balanced value case for the implementation. You will show not just how the agent works, but how it reshapes work, responsibility and trust.
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: Audience analysis and content creation
In this assessment you take a communication campaign from audience data through to finished assets, using generative AI at every stage and documenting how you did it. Working with a real dataset and a brief from your case organisation (or your own workplace), you will commission an analysis, build audience groupings and personas from it, test whether those personas actually came from your data, and then produce content that meets the brief. What is assessed is not the polish of the final assets. It is the quality of your reasoning: whether you checked what the AI gave you, whether you noticed when it was wrong, and whether you can account for the decisions you made along the way. You will also write the disclosure statement you would actually publish alongside this work.
Criteria
- Audience insight report
- Prototype and iteration excerpts
- Disclosure and provenance
- Critical note
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
The ethical and responsible use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools is authorised in this assessment. See the relevant assessment details in Canvas for specific guidelines.
Assessment: Agent workflow design and evaluation
In this assessment you design a communication workflow that delegates defined tasks to AI systems, build a working version of it, and then do the thing that separates professional practice from a demonstration: establish whether it works. You will write a set of test cases for your own workflow, run them against two configurations, and report what you found, including the cases that failed and the questions you could not answer. Alongside the design and the evaluation, you will produce a risk assessment that identifies what could go wrong and the specific controls you would put in place to reduce those risks. The evaluation report is the central component and it is marked on rigour rather than on outcome.
Criteria:
- Context & goals
- Workflow design
- Evaluation report
- Risk assessment
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
The ethical and responsible use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools is authorised in this assessment. See the relevant assessment details in Canvas for specific guidelines.
Assessment: Final examination
This examination tests two things: whether you know the core concepts of this unit well enough to use them, and whether you can exercise the judgement the unit teaches without the tools to hand. No devices, no internet.
Use of artificial generative intelligence (GenAI) is prohibited in this assessment.
The examination is invigilated, and you will be required to attend the campus or an assessment centre.
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is a commitment to undertaking academic work and assessment in a manner that is ethical, fair, honest, respectful and accountable.
The Academic Integrity Policy sets out the range of conduct that can be a failure to maintain the standards of academic integrity. This includes, cheating in exams, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion and contract cheating. It also includes providing fraudulent or altered documentation in support of an academic concession application, for example an assignment extension or a deferred exam.
You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.
Breaching QUT’s Academic Integrity Policy or engaging in conduct that may defeat or compromise the purpose of assessment can lead to a finding of student misconduct (Code of Conduct – Student) and result in the imposition of penalties under the Management of Student Misconduct Policy, ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.
Risk Assessment Statement
All on-campus students are required to complete the online General Health and Safety Induction for access to campus buildings and facilities.
You are advised to back-up your digital files on a regular basis to ensure work is not lost if there is a hardware failure. Information about the free file storage provided by QUT for students is available from HiQ.
There are no out of the ordinary risks associated with this unit.
Course Learning Outcomes
This unit is designed to support your development of the following course/study area learning outcomes.KC86 Graduate Certificate in Digital Communication
- Critique scholarly research in digital communication.
Relates to: ULO1, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Propose data-driven solutions to contemporary communication issues
Relates to: ULO4, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Analyse data using industry standard tools and platforms
Relates to: ULO2, Audience analysis and content creation, Final examination - Analyse critical issues in media and communication industries.
Relates to: ULO1, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Tailor culturally appropriate communication strategies and content for a variety of audiences and formats.
Relates to: ULO3, ULO4, ULO5, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation
KC87 Graduate Diploma in Digital Communication
- Critique scholarly research in specialised and contemporary digital communication areas.
Relates to: ULO1, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Independently propose data-driven solutions to contemporary communication issues
Relates to: ULO4, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation - Analyse data using industry standard tools and platforms leveraging advanced capabilities
Relates to: ULO2, Audience analysis and content creation - Analyse critical issues in media and communication industries with consideration for diversity.
Relates to: ULO1, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Tailor culturally appropriate communication strategies and content for a variety of audiences and formats.
Relates to: ULO3, ULO4, ULO5, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation
KC88 Master of Digital Communication
- Critique and engage in scholarly research in specialised and contemporary digital communication areas.
Relates to: ULO1, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Independently propose innovative, data-driven solutions to contemporary communication issues
Relates to: ULO4, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation - Analyse data using industry standard tools and platforms leveraging advanced capabilities to address industry and research problems
Relates to: ULO2, Audience analysis and content creation - Evaluate critical issues in media and communication industries.
Relates to: ULO1, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Tailor and implement culturally appropriate communication strategies and content for a variety of audiences and formats.
Relates to: ULO3, ULO4, ULO5, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation
KV40 Bachelor of Communication
- Demonstrate capacity to understand and critique the historical, cultural, technological, and regulatory implications of digital media, communication, and news industries.
Relates to: ULO1, Audience analysis and content creation, Final examination - Demonstrate capacity to evaluate and apply specialised knowledge (including scholarly research) in digital media, communication, and/or news industries, including the relationship between disciplinary theory, research methodologies, and professional practice.
Relates to: ULO1, Audience analysis and content creation, Final examination - Demonstrate effective communication skills with the ability to adapt culturally-appropriate strategies across different media and professional settings and for diverse audiences.
Relates to: Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Critically analyse, evaluate and synthesise complex forms of information, including using industry standard tools and data-driven evidence, to inform decision-making and argumentation to solve industry and research problems.
Relates to: ULO2, ULO4, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Critically interrogate the economic and cultural power of digital media, communication, entertainment, and news to make ethical, sustainable, and inclusive contributions to diverse workplaces, communities, and audiences.
Relates to: ULO5, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Demonstrate critical digital literacy skills across diverse platforms and technologies, including familiarity with analytic tools to effectively and responsibly interpret data in the media, communication, and news industries.
Relates to: ULO2, ULO4, ULO5, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Create authentic and professional-quality communication outputs that reflect an application of academic content, critical thinking skills, and social awareness.
Relates to: ULO3, ULO4, ULO5, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination
Unit Outline: Semester 2 2027, Online
| Unit code: | CCN109 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Pre-requisite: | 192 credit points of completed undergraduate study in KV40, OR admission into KC86, KC87, or KC88. |
| Equivalent: | COMM0001 and COMM0002 and COMM0003 and COMM0004 |
Overview
This unit explores the applications of generative AI (GenAI) in professional communication contexts. It equips participants with the skills to effectively use, integrate, and critically evaluate GenAI tools for various professional communication purposes. The unit first introduces participants to the opportunities and risks of using GenAI for audience analysis and for crafting data-driven, targeted messaging using text, sound, and images. Then, participants explore how to integrate GenAI technologies into communication workflows. The module covers how to audit GenAI outputs, navigate associated ethical and regulatory considerations, and manage unexpected organisational consequences.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Understand the fundamentals, scope, and historical development of GenAI within professional communication.
- Use GenAI tools effectively for audience analysis and communication evaluation.
- Use GenAI tools to create, refine, and edit professional-standard written and multimedia content.
- Integrate GenAI tools effectively into enterprise communication workflows.
- Conduct thorough evaluations and audits of AI-generated content for quality, accuracy, and appropriateness.
- Articulate ethical considerations and regulatory risks when preparing an organisation for effective integration of state-of-the-art GenAI systems.
Content
The unit will cover the following topics:
- Are GenAI tools truly intelligent?
- Targeted Messaging using AI-Generated Data-driven Personas
- Creating On-Brief Content with GenAI Tools
- GenAI agents in communication workflows
- Orchestrating agent-led communication workflows
- Ethical, regulatory and organisational considerations
Learning Approaches
This unit is taught via a blended approach that combines elements of online delivery and face-to-face.
Learning experiences in this unit include:
- participating in class/online tutorials
- attending lectures
- engaging with online learning materials
- reading book chapters, scholarly and industry articles
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
You will receive feedback on your learning in a variety of ways, including:
- Informal formative feedback in tutorials,
- Self-assessment tools,
- Peer feedback,
- Formal written or recorded feedback on both formative and summative assessment tasks in addition to the grade on the Criterion Reference Assessment sheet.
Assessment
Overview
In this unit, you will be required to complete two main assessment items and one exam (invigilated):
In the first assessment you will use GenAI to analyse audience data, craft AI-generated content, and then interrogate the social and ethical ripples your work creates. The outcome of this assessment balances practical outputs with a critical commentary and governance plan, demonstrating both creative mastery and responsible communication practice.
In the second assessment you will design an AI agent that improves a communication task. In this project you will build a portfolio that combines a rigorous blueprint, workflow integration, stakeholder analysis, governance safeguards and a balanced value case for the implementation. You will show not just how the agent works, but how it reshapes work, responsibility and trust
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: GenAI for Audience analysis and Content creation
Task: Participants use GenAI to analyse audience data, craft AI-generated content, and then interrogate the social and ethical ripples your work creates. The participants’ portfolio balances practical outputs with a critical commentary and governance plan, demonstrating both creative mastery and responsible communication practice.
- Criteria:
- Clarity of campaign context
- Rigour of audience analysis & bias check
- Quality & brand fit of content prototypes
- Depth of impact & ethics commentary
- Practicality of governance checklist
- Reflection & presentation quality
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
The ethical and responsible use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools is authorised in this assessment. See the relevant assessment details in Canvas for specific guidelines.
Assessment: Designing, Orchestrating, and Governing an Agent-Led Communication Workflow
Task: Participants design an AI agent that genuinely improves a communication task and examine its wider effects. The participants’ portfolio combines a rigorous blueprint, workflow integration, stakeholder analysis, governance safeguards and a balanced value case. They showcase not just how the agent works, but how it reshapes work, responsibility and trust.
Criteria:
- Clarity of context & goals
- Technical soundness of blueprint & orchestration
- Depth of impact & stakeholder analysis
- Practicality of governance plan
- Balanced value analysis
- Reflection & presentation quality
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
The ethical and responsible use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools is authorised in this assessment. See the relevant assessment details in Canvas for specific guidelines.
Assessment: Communicating with GenAI - Key concepts
An exam will assess your understanding of key concepts introduced and discussed.
The use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools is prohibited during this assessment.
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is a commitment to undertaking academic work and assessment in a manner that is ethical, fair, honest, respectful and accountable.
The Academic Integrity Policy sets out the range of conduct that can be a failure to maintain the standards of academic integrity. This includes, cheating in exams, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion and contract cheating. It also includes providing fraudulent or altered documentation in support of an academic concession application, for example an assignment extension or a deferred exam.
You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.
Breaching QUT’s Academic Integrity Policy or engaging in conduct that may defeat or compromise the purpose of assessment can lead to a finding of student misconduct (Code of Conduct – Student) and result in the imposition of penalties under the Management of Student Misconduct Policy, ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.
Risk Assessment Statement
All on-campus students are required to complete the online General Healrh and Safety Induction for access to campus buildings and facilities.
You are advised to back-up your digital files on a regular basis to ensure work is not lost if there is a hardware failure. Information about the free file storage provided by QUT for students is available from HiQ.
There are no out of the ordinary risks associated with this unit.
Course Learning Outcomes
This unit is designed to support your development of the following course/study area learning outcomes.KC86 Graduate Certificate in Digital Communication
- Critique scholarly research in digital communication.
Relates to: ULO1, Designing, Orchestrating, and Governing an Agent-Led Communication Workflow, Communicating with GenAI - Key concepts - Propose data-driven solutions to contemporary communication issues
Relates to: ULO4, GenAI for Audience analysis and Content creation, Designing, Orchestrating, and Governing an Agent-Led Communication Workflow - Analyse data using industry standard tools and platforms
Relates to: ULO2, GenAI for Audience analysis and Content creation - Analyse critical issues in media and communication industries.
Relates to: ULO1, GenAI for Audience analysis and Content creation, Designing, Orchestrating, and Governing an Agent-Led Communication Workflow, Communicating with GenAI - Key concepts - Tailor culturally appropriate communication strategies and content for a variety of audiences and formats.
Relates to: ULO3, ULO4, ULO5, ULO6, GenAI for Audience analysis and Content creation, Designing, Orchestrating, and Governing an Agent-Led Communication Workflow
KC87 Graduate Diploma in Digital Communication
- Critique scholarly research in specialised and contemporary digital communication areas.
Relates to: ULO1, Designing, Orchestrating, and Governing an Agent-Led Communication Workflow, Communicating with GenAI - Key concepts - Independently propose data-driven solutions to contemporary communication issues
Relates to: ULO4, GenAI for Audience analysis and Content creation, Designing, Orchestrating, and Governing an Agent-Led Communication Workflow - Analyse data using industry standard tools and platforms leveraging advanced capabilities
Relates to: ULO2, GenAI for Audience analysis and Content creation - Analyse critical issues in media and communication industries with consideration for diversity.
Relates to: ULO1, GenAI for Audience analysis and Content creation, Designing, Orchestrating, and Governing an Agent-Led Communication Workflow, Communicating with GenAI - Key concepts - Tailor culturally appropriate communication strategies and content for a variety of audiences and formats.
Relates to: ULO3, ULO4, ULO5, ULO6, GenAI for Audience analysis and Content creation, Designing, Orchestrating, and Governing an Agent-Led Communication Workflow
KC88 Master of Digital Communication
- Critique and engage in scholarly research in specialised and contemporary digital communication areas.
Relates to: ULO1, Designing, Orchestrating, and Governing an Agent-Led Communication Workflow, Communicating with GenAI - Key concepts - Independently propose innovative, data-driven solutions to contemporary communication issues
Relates to: ULO4, GenAI for Audience analysis and Content creation, Designing, Orchestrating, and Governing an Agent-Led Communication Workflow - Analyse data using industry standard tools and platforms leveraging advanced capabilities to address industry and research problems
Relates to: ULO2, GenAI for Audience analysis and Content creation - Evaluate critical issues in media and communication industries.
Relates to: ULO1, GenAI for Audience analysis and Content creation, Designing, Orchestrating, and Governing an Agent-Led Communication Workflow, Communicating with GenAI - Key concepts - Tailor and implement culturally appropriate communication strategies and content for a variety of audiences and formats.
Relates to: ULO3, ULO4, ULO5, ULO6, GenAI for Audience analysis and Content creation, Designing, Orchestrating, and Governing an Agent-Led Communication Workflow
KV40 Bachelor of Communication
- Demonstrate capacity to understand and critique the historical, cultural, technological, and regulatory implications of digital media, communication, and news industries.
Relates to: ULO1, GenAI for Audience analysis and Content creation, Communicating with GenAI - Key concepts - Demonstrate capacity to evaluate and apply specialised knowledge (including scholarly research) in digital media, communication, and/or news industries, including the relationship between disciplinary theory, research methodologies, and professional practice.
Relates to: ULO1, GenAI for Audience analysis and Content creation, Communicating with GenAI - Key concepts - Demonstrate effective communication skills with the ability to adapt culturally-appropriate strategies across different media and professional settings and for diverse audiences.
Relates to: ULO6, Designing, Orchestrating, and Governing an Agent-Led Communication Workflow, Communicating with GenAI - Key concepts - Critically analyse, evaluate and synthesise complex forms of information, including using industry standard tools and data-driven evidence, to inform decision-making and argumentation to solve industry and research problems.
Relates to: ULO2, ULO4, GenAI for Audience analysis and Content creation, Designing, Orchestrating, and Governing an Agent-Led Communication Workflow, Communicating with GenAI - Key concepts - Critically interrogate the economic and cultural power of digital media, communication, entertainment, and news to make ethical, sustainable, and inclusive contributions to diverse workplaces, communities, and audiences.
Relates to: ULO5, ULO6, Designing, Orchestrating, and Governing an Agent-Led Communication Workflow, Communicating with GenAI - Key concepts - Demonstrate critical digital literacy skills across diverse platforms and technologies, including familiarity with analytic tools to effectively and responsibly interpret data in the media, communication, and news industries.
Relates to: ULO2, ULO4, ULO5, GenAI for Audience analysis and Content creation, Designing, Orchestrating, and Governing an Agent-Led Communication Workflow, Communicating with GenAI - Key concepts - Create authentic and professional-quality communication outputs that reflect an application of academic content, critical thinking skills, and social awareness.
Relates to: ULO3, ULO4, ULO5, GenAI for Audience analysis and Content creation, Designing, Orchestrating, and Governing an Agent-Led Communication Workflow, Communicating with GenAI - Key concepts
Unit Outline: Semester 2 2027, Online
| Unit code: | CCN109 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Pre-requisite: | 192 credit points of completed undergraduate study in KV40, OR admission into KC86, KC87, or KC88. |
| Equivalent: | COMM0001 and COMM0002 and COMM0003 and COMM0004 |
Overview
Generative AI has moved from novelty to infrastructure in professional communication, and the useful question is no longer whether to use it but how to use it accountably. This unit builds that capability in two modules. The first is about working with these systems directly: understanding enough of how they are built to make informed choices between them, directing them precisely enough to get usable work, analysing real audience data with them, producing content against a real brief, and checking the results by methods you can defend to someone who asks. The second is about what changes when work is delegated to AI systems. Once an AI system completes a task without you reading every output, you need a way to know it is working, a decision about where a human intervention belongs, and a governance position for outputs you did not personally see.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Explain how contemporary generative AI systems are built and why their outputs vary, in terms adequate to make informed professional tool choices.
- Direct generative AI systems to produce audience analysis and communication assets that meet a specified brief, and verify the results by methods you can justify.
- Design a communication workflow that delegates defined tasks to AI systems, placing human oversight where consequence requires it.
- Evaluate the performance of an AI-supported communication workflow using a systematic method, and report the findings to a non-specialist audience.
- Apply current regulatory, ethical and organisational obligations to your own AI-supported communication practice, including disclosure, provenance, record keeping and incident response.
Content
The unit will cover the following topics:
How generative AI systems work, and how to choose between them.
AI-supported audience analysis
Producing on-brief content
Delegating communication tasks to AI agents
Designing and evaluating AI-supported workflows
Governance in practice
Learning Approaches
This unit is taught via a blended approach that combines elements of online delivery and face-to-face.
Learning activities include lectures and tutorials supported by additional online activities and materials. This approach requires students to complete online activities independently, prior to attending classes. In the internal offerings, classes are conducted face-to-face in collaborative learning spaces; in the online offerings, classes and learning activities are conducted online. Indicative learning experiences in this unit include:
participating in class/online tutorials
attending lectures
engaging with online learning materials
reading book chapters, scholarly and industry articles
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
You will receive feedback on your learning in a variety of ways, including:
- Informal formative feedback in tutorials,
- Self-assessment tools,
- Peer feedback,
- Formal written or recorded feedback on both formative and summative assessment tasks in addition to the grade on the Criterion Reference Assessment sheet.
Assessment
Overview
In this unit, you will be required to complete two main assessment items and one exam (invigilated):
In the first assessment you will use generative AI to analyse target audiences, create tailored content, and evaluate the social and ethical impacts of your work. The outcome of this assessment balances practical outputs with a critical commentary and governance plan, demonstrating both creative mastery and responsible communication practice.
In the second assessment you will design an AI agent that improves a complex communication task. You will build a portfolio that combines a rigorous blueprint, workflow integration, stakeholder analysis, governance safeguards and a balanced value case for the implementation. You will show not just how the agent works, but how it reshapes work, responsibility and trust.
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: Audience analysis and content creation
In this assessment you take a communication campaign from audience data through to finished assets, using generative AI at every stage and documenting how you did it. Working with a real dataset and a brief from your case organisation (or your own workplace), you will commission an analysis, build audience groupings and personas from it, test whether those personas actually came from your data, and then produce content that meets the brief. What is assessed is not the polish of the final assets. It is the quality of your reasoning: whether you checked what the AI gave you, whether you noticed when it was wrong, and whether you can account for the decisions you made along the way. You will also write the disclosure statement you would actually publish alongside this work.
Criteria
- Audience insight report
- Prototype and iteration excerpts
- Disclosure and provenance
- Critical note
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
The ethical and responsible use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools is authorised in this assessment. See the relevant assessment details in Canvas for specific guidelines.
Assessment: Agent workflow design and evaluation
In this assessment you design a communication workflow that delegates defined tasks to AI systems, build a working version of it, and then do the thing that separates professional practice from a demonstration: establish whether it works. You will write a set of test cases for your own workflow, run them against two configurations, and report what you found, including the cases that failed and the questions you could not answer. Alongside the design and the evaluation, you will produce a risk assessment that identifies what could go wrong and the specific controls you would put in place to reduce those risks. The evaluation report is the central component and it is marked on rigour rather than on outcome.
Criteria:
- Context & goals
- Workflow design
- Evaluation report
- Risk assessment
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
The ethical and responsible use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools is authorised in this assessment. See the relevant assessment details in Canvas for specific guidelines.
Assessment: Final examination
This examination tests two things: whether you know the core concepts of this unit well enough to use them, and whether you can exercise the judgement the unit teaches without the tools to hand. No devices, no internet.
Use of artificial generative intelligence (GenAI) is prohibited in this assessment.
The examination is invigilated, and you will be required to attend the campus or an assessment centre.
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is a commitment to undertaking academic work and assessment in a manner that is ethical, fair, honest, respectful and accountable.
The Academic Integrity Policy sets out the range of conduct that can be a failure to maintain the standards of academic integrity. This includes, cheating in exams, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion and contract cheating. It also includes providing fraudulent or altered documentation in support of an academic concession application, for example an assignment extension or a deferred exam.
You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.
Breaching QUT’s Academic Integrity Policy or engaging in conduct that may defeat or compromise the purpose of assessment can lead to a finding of student misconduct (Code of Conduct – Student) and result in the imposition of penalties under the Management of Student Misconduct Policy, ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.
Risk Assessment Statement
All on-campus students are required to complete the online General Health and Safety Induction for access to campus buildings and facilities.
You are advised to back-up your digital files on a regular basis to ensure work is not lost if there is a hardware failure. Information about the free file storage provided by QUT for students is available from HiQ.
There are no out of the ordinary risks associated with this unit.
Course Learning Outcomes
This unit is designed to support your development of the following course/study area learning outcomes.KC86 Graduate Certificate in Digital Communication
- Critique scholarly research in digital communication.
Relates to: ULO1, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Propose data-driven solutions to contemporary communication issues
Relates to: ULO4, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Analyse data using industry standard tools and platforms
Relates to: ULO2, Audience analysis and content creation, Final examination - Analyse critical issues in media and communication industries.
Relates to: ULO1, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Tailor culturally appropriate communication strategies and content for a variety of audiences and formats.
Relates to: ULO3, ULO4, ULO5, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation
KC87 Graduate Diploma in Digital Communication
- Critique scholarly research in specialised and contemporary digital communication areas.
Relates to: ULO1, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Independently propose data-driven solutions to contemporary communication issues
Relates to: ULO4, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation - Analyse data using industry standard tools and platforms leveraging advanced capabilities
Relates to: ULO2, Audience analysis and content creation - Analyse critical issues in media and communication industries with consideration for diversity.
Relates to: ULO1, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Tailor culturally appropriate communication strategies and content for a variety of audiences and formats.
Relates to: ULO3, ULO4, ULO5, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation
KC88 Master of Digital Communication
- Critique and engage in scholarly research in specialised and contemporary digital communication areas.
Relates to: ULO1, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Independently propose innovative, data-driven solutions to contemporary communication issues
Relates to: ULO4, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation - Analyse data using industry standard tools and platforms leveraging advanced capabilities to address industry and research problems
Relates to: ULO2, Audience analysis and content creation - Evaluate critical issues in media and communication industries.
Relates to: ULO1, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Tailor and implement culturally appropriate communication strategies and content for a variety of audiences and formats.
Relates to: ULO3, ULO4, ULO5, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation
KV40 Bachelor of Communication
- Demonstrate capacity to understand and critique the historical, cultural, technological, and regulatory implications of digital media, communication, and news industries.
Relates to: ULO1, Audience analysis and content creation, Final examination - Demonstrate capacity to evaluate and apply specialised knowledge (including scholarly research) in digital media, communication, and/or news industries, including the relationship between disciplinary theory, research methodologies, and professional practice.
Relates to: ULO1, Audience analysis and content creation, Final examination - Demonstrate effective communication skills with the ability to adapt culturally-appropriate strategies across different media and professional settings and for diverse audiences.
Relates to: Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Critically analyse, evaluate and synthesise complex forms of information, including using industry standard tools and data-driven evidence, to inform decision-making and argumentation to solve industry and research problems.
Relates to: ULO2, ULO4, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Critically interrogate the economic and cultural power of digital media, communication, entertainment, and news to make ethical, sustainable, and inclusive contributions to diverse workplaces, communities, and audiences.
Relates to: ULO5, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Demonstrate critical digital literacy skills across diverse platforms and technologies, including familiarity with analytic tools to effectively and responsibly interpret data in the media, communication, and news industries.
Relates to: ULO2, ULO4, ULO5, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination - Create authentic and professional-quality communication outputs that reflect an application of academic content, critical thinking skills, and social awareness.
Relates to: ULO3, ULO4, ULO5, Audience analysis and content creation, Agent workflow design and evaluation, Final examination