Free AI workshop coming to La Grande, part of NEOEDD series

A free 90-minute AI workshop will bring generative artificial intelligence down to street level in La Grande, with organizers pitching it as a practical session for people who need help writing, planning and saving time, not a seminar for tech specialists.

The AI Unlocked class is scheduled for June 4 from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Cook Memorial Library, 2006 Fourth Street, and it is part of a three-city Northeast Oregon Economic Development District series that also includes Joseph on June 3 and Baker City, plus a virtual option, on June 10.

NEOEDD says the workshop is designed for entrepreneurs, small business owners, managers, professionals, educators, writers, marketers and students, which makes the La Grande stop especially relevant for Union County residents who wear several hats at once. In a county where many employers are small and many offices run lean, the appeal is straightforward: learn how to use AI to draft messages, organize information, speed up routine paperwork and build better prompts without needing a technical background.

Lorin Ricker, founder of CoyoteThinking LLC, will lead the session. NEOEDD describes Ricker as someone who helps small business owners, managers and teams cut through the hype around generative AI and use it in clear, useful ways.

The curriculum is unusually specific. Participants will start by busting common myths, then move into a plain-English explanation of what generative AI actually is, what it can and cannot do, and why it can sometimes be more useful than a web search. A major section will focus on prompt engineering, including how to build better prompts, how to ask for longer and more complex tasks and how to keep context in an AI conversation.

Organizers also plan to address hallucinations, the errors or false outputs AI can produce, and how to spot and manage them. In Joseph, the workshop is also slated to include live demos and prompt evaluations. Attendees there are expected to leave with ready-to-use prompt templates and strategies they can apply immediately, while the broader series promises templates, a cheat sheet, an example library and, for virtual participants, a recording.

For Union County, the workshop fits a growing local need for low-barrier technology training. Cook Memorial Library offers a familiar public setting, not a corporate classroom, which may make the subject feel less intimidating for residents who are curious but cautious. It also reflects how libraries, downtown spaces and economic-development groups are becoming part of the same workforce conversation.

NEOEDD says it supports Northeast Oregon’s small businesses and entrepreneurs with workshops, funding and technical support, and its Small Business Success Day materials show that artificial intelligence tools have already been part of past sessions. At the state level, Oregon created the State Government Artificial Intelligence Advisory Council on Nov. 28, 2023, and the state’s AI program emphasizes responsible use, workforce readiness, risk management and clear expectations. That makes the La Grande workshop part of a larger push to help Oregonians adopt AI carefully, practically and with a local use case in mind.