You’ve probably tried to learn AI already. Maybe you watched a few YouTube videos. Maybe you Googled “best AI prompts” and copy-pasted something into ChatGPT. Maybe you even paid for a course that turned out to be 90 minutes of filler followed by an upsell.
And you’re still not sure what you’re doing.
That’s not your fault. The problem isn’t motivation. It’s that there’s no clear starting point. You get a firehose of tips, tricks, and “top 50 prompt” lists—but nobody tells you what to learn first, what to learn second, and how it all connects.
So we built a path. Five courses, 40 lessons, roughly 11 hours total. All free. No account, no email capture, no “premium tier” waiting behind lesson 3.
Here’s the path, in order.
Course 1: AI Fundamentals
Time: 2 hours | Level: Beginner | Lessons: 8
This is where everyone should start. Even if you’ve been using ChatGPT for months.
Most people start prompting without understanding what’s happening on the other side. They type something vague, get a vague response, and think AI isn’t that useful. But when you understand how large language models actually process your words—how they predict, how context shapes output, why order matters—everything clicks differently.
What you’ll walk away with:
- How LLMs generate text (and why that matters for your prompts)
- A framework for writing prompts that get useful responses the first time
- The most common prompting mistakes and how to fix them
- Techniques like chain-of-thought reasoning that work across any AI tool
Who needs this most: Anyone who’s been using AI casually but feels like they’re guessing. If you’ve ever thought “why does it give my coworker better answers?"—start here.
Course 2: Prompt Engineering
Time: 3 hours | Level: Intermediate | Lessons: 8
This is where most people want to jump in. But it hits harder after AI Fundamentals, because you’ll understand why these techniques work—not just that they work.
The core of this course is the RACE framework: Role, Action, Context, Examples. It’s a simple structure that turns “write me an email” into a prompt that actually produces something you’d send.
Beyond that, you’ll get into few-shot learning (teaching AI patterns through examples), chain-of-thought prompting (making AI show its reasoning so you can catch mistakes), and prompt debugging—figuring out why a prompt isn’t working and fixing it systematically instead of just rewording randomly.
What you’ll walk away with:
- The RACE framework for structuring any prompt
- How to design personas that shape AI behavior and tone
- Few-shot learning—teaching AI by example
- Debugging prompts that aren’t giving you what you want
Who needs this most: Anyone who’s past the basics and wants consistency. If you sometimes get great results and sometimes get garbage from the same tool, this course closes that gap.
Course 3: Better Writing with AI
Time: 2 hours | Level: Beginner | Lessons: 8
This one surprises people. It’s not about making AI write for you. It’s about using AI as a thinking and editing partner that makes your writing better.
The second lesson—Beating the Blank Page—is probably the most practical thing in this entire path. It walks you through using AI to brainstorm angles, create rough structures, and generate first drafts that you then shape into something that sounds like you. Not something that sounds like ChatGPT wrote it.
The later lessons cover structure (how to organize ideas so people actually keep reading), clarity (cutting the fluff without losing meaning), and voice—developing a style that’s distinctly yours even when AI helps with the process.
What you’ll walk away with:
- A system for getting past writer’s block in minutes, not hours
- Techniques for using AI to edit without losing your voice
- Writing structures that keep readers engaged
- Faster first drafts without sacrificing quality
Who needs this most: Anyone who writes at work—emails, reports, proposals, documentation. Also great if you’ve ever stared at a blank doc for 20 minutes before typing a single word.
Course 4: Research Smarter with AI
Time: 2 hours | Level: Beginner | Lessons: 8
Start Research Smarter with AI
Here’s the thing about AI and research: it’s incredibly fast and confidently wrong about 30-40% of the time. If you don’t know how to verify what it tells you, you’ll build arguments on facts that don’t exist.
This course teaches you to use AI as a research accelerator without becoming dependent on it. You’ll learn how to evaluate sources, cross-reference claims, synthesize information from multiple places, and spot the moments when AI is filling gaps with plausible-sounding fiction.
There’s also a practical section on building study materials—using AI to create flashcards, summaries, and review schedules that actually stick. It covers active recall and spaced repetition, which are genuinely the two most effective learning techniques according to cognitive science.
What you’ll walk away with:
- How to tell when AI is giving you solid information vs making stuff up
- A process for cross-referencing and verifying AI outputs
- Techniques for synthesizing research from multiple sources
- Building study materials that use proven learning science
Who needs this most: Students, researchers, anyone whose work depends on getting facts right. Also useful if you’ve ever shared an AI-generated “fact” that turned out to be wrong. (We’ve all been there.)
Course 5: Critical Thinking with AI
Time: 2 hours | Level: Beginner | Lessons: 8
Start Critical Thinking with AI
This is the course most people don’t think they need. And it’s the one that changes how they think—about AI and about everything else.
It covers cognitive biases (the mental shortcuts that trick you into bad decisions), logical fallacies (the argument patterns that sound right but aren’t), and structured decision-making frameworks for problems with too many variables to hold in your head.
But the real value is learning to use AI as a reasoning partner. You feed it your argument and ask it to find the holes. You give it a decision you’re leaning toward and ask it to make the case against it. You use it to stress-test assumptions you didn’t even realize you were making.
What you’ll walk away with:
- Recognizing cognitive biases in your own thinking
- Spotting logical fallacies in arguments (yours and others')
- Structured frameworks for making better decisions
- Using AI to challenge your conclusions before someone else does
Who needs this most: Honestly, everyone. But especially anyone who makes decisions that affect other people—managers, founders, team leads, parents. This one’s useful long after you close the AI tab.
What Comes After These Five
This path gives you a strong foundation. But AI touches basically everything now—writing, marketing, coding, finance, education, healthcare, creative work.
We have 120+ courses covering all of it. Topics like AI for Small Business, Social Media Marketing with AI, Freelance Smarter with AI, and dozens more. Some are free, some are premium. But these first five give you the skills to get real value out of any of them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to create an account?
No. You can start any course right now without signing up. If you do create a free account, your progress syncs across devices—but it’s optional.
Which AI tool do I need?
Any of them. These courses work with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, or any AI assistant. The techniques are tool-agnostic.
How long does the full path take?
About 11 hours across all five courses. But you don’t need to do them in one sitting. Each lesson is 12-20 minutes, so you can fit them around your schedule.
Is there really no catch?
No catch. These five courses are free—every lesson, every quiz. We do have premium courses on more advanced topics, but nothing in this “Start Here” path is gated.
Do I get a certificate?
Yes. Each course has a quiz at the end, and you get a certificate when you complete it. It’s not a formal credential, but some people find it motivating to finish.
What if I already know the basics?
Start with Course 2 (Prompt Engineering). If that feels too easy, jump to the research or critical thinking courses. The path is a recommendation, not a requirement.