Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming a valuable brainstorming and idea-generating tool across various fields, including higher education. In strategic communication planning, AI can assist in identifying and refining key components of the marketing mix (i.e., price, product, place, and promotion). AI’s ability to quickly analyze vast amounts of data can spark creativity and provide insights that might not be obvious. Despite its potential to enhance brainstorming, educators and students may have concerns about its overall effectiveness, including accuracy and impact on originality of thought. This study examines students’ perceived effectiveness of AI for brainstorming core components of the marketing mix in a low-stakes learning activity. Students enrolled in an agricultural communications social marketing course were asked to prompt an AI platform to identify the core, actual, and augmented products for their social marketing campaign. Participants evaluated the AI-generated output for helpfulness and accuracy. Responses were qualitatively coded to categorize emergent themes of students’ perceptions of the AI brainstorming activity. Findings revealed most students perceived AI to be an effective tool for brainstorming ideas for their social marketing campaign. However, some students expressed skepticism and claimed the AI-generated output was too broad or inaccurate. Overall, the activity demonstrates promise for integrating AI tools into brainstorming for course assignments, as students expressed interest in utilizing AI for idea generation. We recommend implementing course activities to help students learn how to ethically use AI and apply their discretion to determine if AI outputs are effective. As AI tools and educational environments evolve, future research should continue to evaluate the role of AI in academic and industry settings.