6 free courses to master Generative AI from Microsoft, Google, Harvard, and more

Introduction to Generative AI

This course from Google is aimed at helping people understand the concepts of generative AI, its uses, and how it differs from conventional machine learning methods. According to Google, this is an ‘introductory level microlearning course’ that also covers Google Tools that will help you to create your own Generative AI applications. Upon completing this course, users will get a badge that can be displayed on their profiles. The course materials include videos and documents.

Harvard’s CS50’s Introduction to AI with Python

With this introductory course, users can learn to use machine learning in Python. The course module includes graph search algorithms, reinforcement learning, machine learning, AI principles, how to design intelligent systems, and how to use AI in Python programmes. “CS50’s Introduction to Artificial Intelligence with Python explores the concepts and algorithms at the foundation of modern artificial intelligence, diving into the ideas that give rise to technologies like game-playing engines, handwriting recognition, and machine translation,” read the official website. The 7-week long course is described as self-paced and is offered on the edX platform. 

Microsoft’s What is Generative AI?

This course from Microsoft offers the basics of generative AI. The topics include an introduction to generative AI, how it works, ways to create your content, various types of models, ethical implications, and future predictions. The course is covered by leading generative AI expert, Pinar Seyhan Demirdag. The 42-minute long course can be accessed on the go. Participants will also earn a shareable certificate which they can download as PDFs and add to their LinkedIn profiles under the Licences and Certificate section.  

Introduction to Responsible AI

This course is offered by Google and essentially gives learners an insight into what responsible AI is, its significance, and how Google is implementing responsible AI in its products. Upon completion, users will earn a badge which they can later display on their profiles. According to Google, the objective of the course is to understand why Google has put AI principles in place, identify the need for responsible AI practice within an organisation, recognise the decisions made in all stages of a project, and recognise organisations that can design AI to fit their business requirements. There are no prerequisites for this course and anyone can join. 

Generative AI for everyone

This course is instructed by AI expert and pioneer Dr Andrew Ng who guides participants through how generative AI works and its capabilities. The course structure includes insights on how generative AI can help in everyday tasks, tips on prompt engineering, as well an introduction to advanced uses of AI. The course has been designed for business leaders, professionals, and just about anyone. According to DeepLearning.AI which is hosting the course, the schedule is three weeks of study which is one to two hours every week. For the uninitiated, Dr Andrew NG is the founder of DeepLearning.AI, founder, and CEO of Landing AI, chairman and co-founder of Coursera, and an Adjunct Professor at the Computer Science Department of Stanford University.

Streamlining your work with Microsoft Bing Chat

The course from Microsoft lets users learn how Bing Chat can do a wide variety of tasks and help streamline workflows, generate ideas, and summarise data. The course is instructed by Jess Straton, who is a technologist and podcaster. Through the course, Straton explains various ways to enhance productivity using Microsoft Bing Chat. “By the end of this course, you’ll be ready to perform robust online searches, generate ideas, compose text, automate your work, fact-check the results, and more,” read the course description. Participants will get a shareable certificate after completion that they can embed on their LinkedIn profiles. 

Just like any other technology in its nascent stage, there is considerable excitement and apprehension. With AI taking over a host of tasks that are routine and mundane, the fears are not unfounded. However, many experts have assured that AI may not solely take away jobs, instead it may create new profiles and revenue streams for professionals and amateurs around the world.