No one wants to be left in the dust when the latest technology rolls out, particularly if your job security depends on it. If you’re one of the many white collar or blue collar workers who can’t avoid learning what the deal is with AI, you’ve come to the right place.
The bad news is that AI isn’t going away. It’s arguably been hyped up a little too high — we haven’t seen it destroy entire industries just yet — but there’s no denying that most business leaders will require their staff to understand how the tech works in the very near future.
The good news? Thanks to the internet, you have plenty of free video lessons to chose from when trying to get up to speed on how you can use AI bots such as ChatGPT. In fact, you can even go more in-depth with courses that explore the nitty-gritty of coding programs that interact with generative AI on a practical level.
Here, we present the latest AI training courses to know about in October 2024, along with some explanation of what they cover and how long they’ll take to complete.
Microsoft: Responsible use of artificial intelligence in education
Length: ~3 hours
Microsoft is an AI heavy-hitter, with multi-millions invested in bet-hedging deals with OpenAI, the French AI Mistral, and its own in-house Large Language Model, MAI-1. In other words, it’s one of the biggest companies in the business, and certainly the one with the longest track record of success in computing.
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The company also offers a range of free online courses covering everything to do with its suite of business and education software platforms. When it comes to LLMs, it has plenty of training courses, naturally, and this time we’re highlighting one aimed at K-12 educators.
The collection of learning modules takes viewers through Microsoft’s “Responsible AI framework,” teaching the fundamentals behind the ethics related to AI development and application, including: “fairness, reliability & safety, privacy & security, inclusiveness, transparency, accountability, and practical usage.”
The full course takes just three hours, making it one of the more simple offerings in this list, and you can check it out now by heading over to the Microsoft Learn portal to sign in and sign up.
NVIDIA: AI Infrastructure and Operations Fundamentals
Length: 9 hours
NVIDIA hasn’t been around nearly as long as Microsoft, but its AI successes have propelled it to sky high valuations and media darling status. Now, you can learn the foundational concepts behind AI operations straight from them, with this course.
“AI Infrastructure and Operations Fundamentals” is designed for beginners, and takes three weeks to complete at just three hours for each week. The course tackles concepts including: Machine Learning, Deep Learning, training and inference, deep learning frameworks, the AI software stack, and the role of GPUs in AI tech advancement. The training sessons will give users a framework for understanding how to deploy AI workloads on various types of data centers, too.
You can head over to Coursera to get started for free today.
Google: Google AI for Anyone
Length: 12 hours
Another introductory course, this lesson plan is a great starting point for those who need the absolute basics: What is AI? What isn’t AI? Why do articles like this one keep throwing around concepts like “deep learning” or “machine learning”?
Once you have a handle on the current AI landscape, you’ll be exposed to more complicated concepts, from the benefits of AI programming to the basics of forward and backward propagation within neural networks. The course makes a point to highlight that generative AI models are by no means completely accurate, due in part to the errors and biases that are often embedded in the data available to train them on. This isn’t always clear to many people, who use ChatGPT in inappropriate contexts like legal briefs or fact-checking.
You can get started with your AI basics today by heading over to edX and signing up for this free course.
LinkedIn Learning: Complete Guide to Generative AI for Data Analysis and Data Science
Length: 11 hours
Data scientists take note! Instructor Dan Sullivan leads this intermediate level course, which addresses the impact generative AI is making on one career path in particular: Data analysis.
The course covers data management in general as well, with a focus on addressing the “three pillars” of success in data analysis: “problem solving skills, an understanding of statistics and machine learning, and practical experience with data management procedures.”
Once you have that knowledge down, you’ll be able to learn more about the intersection of data and LLMs, with modules covering predictive modeling, machine learning, and interpreting and reporting on your results.
It’s all available through LinkedIn. Technically, it’s not free, but the platform has a generous month-long free trial, so if you sign up today, you’ll have plenty of time to get through the 11-hour course.
Lund University: AI, Business & the Future of Work
Length: 11 hours
Let’s be honest: Most people learning about AI are really just trying to bolster their credentials at work, shoring up their job security while learning a few things about the latest buzzy tech. They might be best served by this course, given its focus on the future of the workplace.
With this Lund University training course, you’ll learn how AI tools can help you make better decisions by giving you better information, how AI can automate processes at your workplace, and how you can “avoid the pitfalls” of AI within your industry.
Once you’re done, you’ll even get a shareable certificate that you can show off on LinkedIn. In short, this course is the perfect starting point for those who really need to know about AI only in the context of how it relates to their own industry and career.
Head over to Coursera to enroll today for free.
Getting Rolling With AI Tools
Generative AI might seen intimidating to an outsider, but the latest models represent ground-breaking technology. The upside to new technology is that it’s new for everyone, novices and experts alike, which can put them all on relatively even ground.
Once you get a certification or two under your belt — and some of them will just take you a single afternoon — you might not feel like that much of an expert, but you’ll genuinely be ahead of most people. You can uses your new skills to negotiate your next raise or to launch your search for a fully remote job.
