This course explores the potential applications of generative AI (gen AI) for survey research. Designed for survey practitioners, data scientists, and social scientists, it provides an introduction to Gen AI – especially large language models (LLMs) – and delves into their applications across the survey lifecycle. Participants will gain foundational knowledge of how AI technologies like LLMs work, understand its implications for survey data quality (in relation to frameworks such as Total Survey Error), and learn practical strategies for integrating GenAI into survey design, data collection, and analysis. Rather than focusing on the technical aspects of LLMs, this course will focus on applied AI research, drawing on empirical evidence of how LLMs perform in areas such as conversational interviewing and synthetic response generation. We will pay particular attention to model evaluation, responsible management of risks, user experience design (UXD), and the augmentation (not replacement) of human expertise.

This course will count as 6.0 CSS short course hours.