Tiffany Le, a computer science and engineering major at Santa Clara University, sometimes had trouble seeing herself in the tech industry's male-dominated culture. This spring, the university launched AI Kitchen, a weekly workshop that now draws about 50 students, faculty, staff and Silicon Valley professionals for hands-on experimentation with emerging artificial intelligence tools. The program's deliberately inclusive atmosphere resonated so strongly with Le that she stepped into the role of student studio lead, helping to broaden participation well beyond technical majors.
"Tech sometimes can be a bit more male dominated, and so being able to create a more inclusive environment really resonated with me," Le said. "When I went out to promote AI Kitchen and try to bring in other students, that was also something that they really liked."
Building AI fluency, not just literacy
Kai Lukoff, assistant professor of computer science and engineering, chose the name "AI Kitchen" as a direct response to research showing that stereotypical tech-bro spaces often push away women and underrepresented students. The metaphor signals something familiar, communal and creative. Every Friday, Le helps run nearly four-hour sessions that remain intentionally "code-light," so an anthropology major, a computer science student or a curious staff member can participate in the same exercises without prior technical knowledge.
"What I wanted to start with AI Kitchen is not just a course about AI literacy, but what one might call AI fluency," Lukoff said. That means moving beyond an abstract understanding of Generative AI and LLM tools to actually working with them, probing their strengths and weaknesses, and applying them to real-world projects.
Cross-campus collaborations shape the work
The practical focus has already produced projects outside the workshop itself. A staff member in the university's donor relations office came seeking help using AI to better match donors with faculty members based on shared interests and priorities. That request turned into an ongoing collaboration between the AI Kitchen students and the donor relations team.
Le recalls sessions where participants from fields like anthropology brought fresh questions about how AI might alter the humanities. "Coming from a more tech perspective, we may be focusing on more of the technical details and all of the code and specifics, but it's also really important to think about what the implications are in other fields," she said.
Critical engagement, not cheerleading
Lukoff is quick to separate the workshop's purpose from uncritical advocacy. "I'm by no means a cheerleader for AI tools," he said. "But I'm also a pragmatist in the sense that I think, whether we like it or not, these tools are here now. And as a university, we shouldn't cede the development of these tools to folks who don't have that kind of critical perspective."
Participants explore how artists, doctors and small-business owners use AI, not just software engineers. The sessions also push beyond the familiar chatbot interface toward newer AI for Education environments that act as agentic tools, unlocking capabilities that have emerged only since the start of the year. At the close of each meeting, attendees follow a playful tradition: tossing soft stuffed vegetables at the speaker to show appreciation.
Why this matters for educators, researchers and science professionals
The AI Kitchen model demonstrates how institutions can build AI fluency across disciplines without requiring deep coding backgrounds. For researchers and science professionals, the hands-on, low-barrier format offers a template for exploring generative AI's real-world limits and possibilities. The program's emphasis on critical thinking-rather than tool evangelism-makes it especially relevant for academic and research settings where understanding both capabilities and shortcomings is essential before adoption. As Le put it, "It's a place where people can feel comfortable exploring, and they don't have to be worried about where their background may be from."
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