The article analyzes the changes taking place in the education in connection with the advent of neural networks. The use of artificial intelligence (AI) by students devalues traditional types of educational work, it requires adapting of a set of training tasks to new conditions. The authors describe the use of participatory methods as a tool for the formation of general and professional competencies for creative students. On the one hand, participatory practices imply personal participation of each student. On the other hand, they contribute to the formation of originality and flexibility of thinking, help practicing goal articulating skills. These skills could be used for effective work with neural networks.