This interdisciplinary seminar kindles an essential debate: In the new age of autonomous media, where does the fire of human creativity truly burn? We dive deep into the essence of consciousness, holding it up against the shimmering ghost of “AI creative-consciousness” to forge a sharper definition of art itself. This philosophical quest, guided in part by Richard Powers’ resonant novel, Playground, is grounded in palpable action. Students will not merely study, but will practice with the very tools of the new dawn (LLMs and diffusion models) through exercises in prompt-critique and collaborative narrative drafting. The journey pivots at the workbench of CSU’s unique Center for Artist Book and Inclusive Narratives (CABIN). Here, the digital is given flesh: AI-generated concepts are translated into traditional, tactile forms like letterpress, printmaking, and bookbinding. This alchemic process—transforming ephemeral code into tangible art—forces a confrontation with issues of authenticity, ownership, and value in a world of infinite digital copies. We will pursue GenAI’s potential to liberate and accelerate the act of creation, while resolutely facing the shadows it casts: the chilling risk of skill atrophy and the ultimate philosophical challenge to the human spirit’s worth when machines begin to dream.