Free self-paced course

AI Course for Beginners

This free AI course for beginners explains artificial intelligence and machine learning from first principles. No Python, coding, or advanced mathematics is required. You learn with direct explanations, animated visual models, short checks, and a practical decision project.

Start the beginner courseView curriculum

For

Complete beginners, product professionals, analysts, designers, educators, and curious learners.

Study time

18–22 hours

Prerequisites

None. The course introduces essential vocabulary before technical notation.

What you will learn

  • Distinguish AI, machine learning, deep learning, generative AI, RAG, and agents.
  • Evaluate model evidence, limitations, risk, and appropriate human oversight.
  • Explain how neural networks, transformers, language models, retrieval, and tools work.
  • Produce an evidence-based AI Decision Brief for a realistic use case.

Recommended starting guides

Use these answer-first lessons to build the concepts this course depends on.

Build a reliable map of AI and machine learningBuild a leakage-safe data and preprocessing workflowSee how LLMs generate text, token by tokenLearn how transformer attention and residual streams workBuild a grounded RAG pipeline with citations and evaluation

Course format

Each topic combines a concise explanation, an animated mechanism, hands-on evidence, and an optional book-level deep dive.

  • Visual explanations before notation
  • No-code learning path
  • Frequent comprehension checks
  • Responsible AI and evaluation
  • AI Decision Brief capstone

Mastery evidence

AI Decision Brief

Assess an AI opportunity, compare it with a non-AI baseline, identify evidence and risks, and recommend a bounded next step.

Open the project

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