“AI won’t replace humans, but humans who use AI will replace humans who don’t,” says Fei-Fei Li, the “Godmother” of modern artificial intelligence. This quote might have been read as a threat by some, but for Assistant Director of Career Development Maggie Erickson, it was an inspiration, fueling the creation of Clemson University’s pioneering Career Innovation Lab — a prototype program that gives students a space to explore generative AI’s role in the workplace and prepare for its impact on their future.
In Spring 2023, Erickson recognized generative AI was going to change the world of work. No one could quite predict how, but she identified a need for action and worked closely with colleagues in the Center for Career and Professional Development (CCPD) to establish a space, intentionally separate from the academic sphere, for students to familiarize themselves with generative AI.
“We needed a sandbox where people could play around with generative AI and not worry about grade consequences or plagiarism issues,” says Erickson.
Thus, the Career Innovation Lab was born. In partnership with Student Affairs, Erickson secured space for a pilot of the program in Tiger Den on the first floor of the Hendrix Student Center. The program launched on March 15, 2025, and its inaugural semester saw over 200 unique students through six sessions — an encouraging start for such a groundbreaking project. Presently, these meetings occur weekly on Wednesdays from 1:30-6:30 p.m on the third floor of Cooper Library in room 309 — the Learning Commons.
Though it differs from traditional career services at Clemson in many ways, the Career Innovation Lab retains one foundational element — it is extremely people-focused. As a part of Erickson’s mission to help students feel comfortable in the space, she employs a large group of UPIC interns to be the faces of the lab. These interns complete formal prompt engineering and consulting training in order to deliver effective and approachable peer-to-peer services. They facilitate conversations with students about how they use AI and where the students’ doubts lie, then walk them through a problem-solving methodology called “Life Design” that provides a framework for making decisions when there is uncertainty ahead. Through this process, the interns offer informed insight to help students feel more comfortable with generative AI and the opportunities it supplies.