Making a new January resolution to finally figure out what’s going on with all this AI nonsense? Here are the free online courses that might be able to help you out.
In 2026, AI is set to face yet another pivotal year. CEOs are set to keep spending oodles on AI for the next 12 months despite signs of poor returns, a new report has confirmed.
Tech corporations and companies everywhere are packing AI tools into every product they possibly can, even while ongoing discussions suggest many users are wary of AI “slop” — a term that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recently decried following Merriam-Webster’s choice to name it 2025’s word of the year.
Anyone who wants to dive into AI in the new year needs to be armed with knowledge about its benefits, drawbacks, and ethical concerns. We don’t recommend just asking ChatGPT about it, either: You’ll be best off with a series of online lessons, delivered as video lectures from some of the smartest minds in artificial intelligence.
GenAI Basics – How LLMs Work
⌛Length: 1 hour
Duke University is behind this just-the-basics course, which takes students through a quick tour of how generative AI models are built and trained, along with some explanation of the data science process in generation.
It’s not just a video, however: This course presents users with a “simple interactive demo” that won’t require an installations or software downloads. This makes it one of the best ways for a hands-on learner to wrap their mind around how generative AI models work. Some people tend to tune out when it comes to endless video-based lessons, but being able to directly interact with a model can allow new information to truly sink in.
Granted, you’ll still have a video. The specific format of this one is a split-screen, with a user’s interactive work area on one side and the video instructor on the other. By the end, you’ll be able to load language models for vectorization, and combine like words and sentences.
You’ll be able to follow along at your own pace, although it will likely take you just an afternoon or less to get through the lesson. Check it out now for no cost over at Coursera.
Enhancing UX Workflow With AI
⌛Length: 3 hours
Perhaps you already know the basic building blocks of AI, but you aren’t sure how to use AI for your own field (or even if you can). If so, you’ll need to go a bit deeper into AI with an intermediate-level course.
We can’t list every single version of a field-specific training course, so you’re on your own when it comes to training on your particular vocation. Still, here’s one example of what to look for: An online video course aimed at helping a more specific segment of the white collar workforce, user exerience experts.
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Over the course of three hours, you’ll be taught how to integrate AI into UX design for greater personalization. Some of the tools and trends you’ll learn about cover the ways AI can enhance design or image creativity, AI-assisted writing, user research analysis and testing, and the ways that the technology can streamline crafting user personas and journey maps.
Check it out and get started today, over at the Uxcel platform here.
If you’ve made a resolution to learn a new skill this year, why not check out our vibe coding reviews? We’ll tell you how to get started with a project today, without coding experience!
AI Fundamentals: From Basics to Generative AI
⌛Length: 2 hours
If you’re looking for a slightly longer guide for AI amateurs, consider this course from online learning platform Udemy: It takes users through two hours in which they’ll learn about topics including machine learning, generative AI, and practical applications of Large Language Models (LLMs).
By the time you finish, you’ll be well-versed in generating AI content and images. Individual courses within the lesson plan will cover the history of AI, how generative AI works, and prompting techniques that you can use to get the right results.
You can check out the course for free over at Udemy here.
Vibe Coding 101 with Replit
⌛Length: 2 hours
Coding with significant help from AI can be termed “vibe coding,” and it comes with its own set of pros and cons. We’ve covered some of the top vibe coding platforms and found Replit is a top pick for users with an above-average background in the technical side of coding.
Now, you can jump into using Replit with a free course that can guide you through the basics of the platform within a few hours.
Among the things you’ll learn in this course are how to build and share both a website performance analyzer and a voting app by using AI to debug and customize your code. Along the way, you’ll pick up the principles of agentic code development and learn the ways in which product requirement documents and wireframes factor into your applications.
The whole course was created in partnership with Replit itself, and is available free from Deeplearning.AI over here.
AI Foundations for Everyone Specialization
⌛Length: About 33 hours
That’s right, this IBM-led course is over ten times longer than any single other course listed in this guide! Sometimes, you really need to dedicate a significant chunk of time in order to gain the real-life experience you need.
At least, that’s what the more than 70,000 students enrolled in this suite of beginner AI courses thought. You’ll work your way through entire courses dedicated to topics including “Generative AI: Introduction and Applications,” “Generative AI: Prompt Engineering Basics,” and “Building AI Powered Chatbots Without Programming.”
IBM’s legacy as a dominant US computing company lends plenty of credibility to this free online video series, which is available through Coursera. You can even sign up for a single course at a time, pacing yourself a little in order to ensure you don’t bite off more than you can chew.
Head over to Coursera now to sign up for these lessons.
Grappling With AI in 2026
Are AI tools invitable? Some argue that the tech-investment bubble will pop at some point in the next year, leaving companies suddenly much less interested in pushing the new tech on consumers.
Even if AI does continue on in some form, the process of adapting it will likely be slow: It took decades for desktop computers to catch on, and decades for smartphones to fully saturate the market. AI tools might well be making similar progress for years to come, as ever-increasing numbers of workers find new ways to incorporate them into their routines.
If you’re among them, don’t miss out on the past resources we’ve compiled to help AI newbies avoid the common pitfalls of artificial intelligence: Check out our guide to spotting AI-generated content, our history on AI hallucinations, and the latest news on AI’s impact on workplaces everywhere.
