• Full course
  • 8 lessons
  • Beginner

AI Basics for Beginners

Build confidence using AI at work. In this 8-lesson course, you’ll start with your first chatbot conversation, then learn how to choose the right AI tool, work with files and images, use web search, apply built-in tools, and avoid common mistakes like hallucinations, bias, and unsafe data sharing.

Start this course free

7 days free, then a monthly or yearly plan. Cancel anytime.

Taught by Grant Harvey

AI Basics for Beginners, from The Neuron Academy

What you'll learn

  • AI Basics: Understand key AI terms and how chatbots work.
  • Stronger AI Conversations: Use context, task, and format to get better responses.
  • Choosing the Right Tool: Match different chatbots to different kinds of work.
  • Working with Files and Images: Upload, analyze, summarize, and transform content.
  • Using Web Search: Know when AI needs current information and how to verify sources.
  • Built-In AI Tools: Use data analysis, code execution, deep research, and extensions for real tasks.
  • AI Safety and Accuracy: Spot hallucinations, bias, and limitations before relying on outputs.
  • Applying AI at Work: Use AI more confidently, safely, and effectively in everyday workflows.

Curriculum

The shape of the course

One mark for every step, in the order you take them. 81 videos, 18 knowledge checks, 5 exercises and a certificate of completion.

  1. Your First Conversation

    • 9 videos
    • 3 knowledge checks
    • 2 exercises

    After this lesson, you’ll be able to open ChatGPT, understand how its chat interface works, write prompts with Context, Task, and Format, and improve responses through follow-ups, fresh chats, and Best of N comparison.

    Show all 14 steps Hide the steps
    1. Introduction
    2. What AI Does
    3. Knowledge check
    4. What AI Does, Pt. 2
    5. Prompts
    6. Knowledge check
    7. Write Your Own prompt
    8. Exercise : Rank your AI's response
    9. Iterating & Managing Conversations
    10. Two Followups
    11. Knowledge check
    12. Final Exercise
    13. Exercise : Final Exercise
    14. Wrap Up
  2. The Four Major Chatbots

    • 8 videos
    • 3 knowledge checks

    Meet ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Grok. You’ll compare what each tool is good at, where each one falls short, and how to pick the right chatbot for the job.

    Show all 11 steps Hide the steps
    1. Introduction
    2. About ChatGPT2
    3. About Claude
    4. About Gemini
    5. Knowledge check
    6. Knowledge check
    7. Knowledge check
    8. Grok
    9. Pricing
    10. Assignment
    11. Wrap Up
  3. Working with Images

    • 10 videos
    • 3 knowledge checks

    Learn how AI can analyze images you upload and generate new images from descriptions. You’ll practice uploading photos, screenshots, charts, and scans, then write stronger image prompts with clearer direction.

    Show all 13 steps Hide the steps
    1. Introduction
    2. Vision: AI That Can See
    3. Knowledge check
    4. Practice
    5. Knowledge check
    6. Uploading & Analyzing Images
    7. Knowledge check
    8. Generating Images
    9. Practice
    10. Rights & Limitations
    11. Your Turn
    12. Your Turn
    13. Wrap Up
  4. Working With Documents

    • 7 videos
    • 2 knowledge checks

    Use AI to read PDFs, Word docs, spreadsheets, presentations, and other files. You’ll learn how to start broad, ask specific follow-up questions, compare documents, and transform content into summaries, tables, checklists, or emails.

    Show all 9 steps Hide the steps
    1. Intro
    2. File Format
    3. Knowledge check
    4. Asking Questions About Files
    5. Transform
    6. Limitations & Tips
    7. Final Exercise
    8. Knowledge check
    9. Wrap Up
  5. Web Search & Real Time Info

    • 11 videos
    • 2 knowledge checks

    Learn when AI needs the web, when it does not, and how to verify the sources it gives you. You’ll compare AI search with traditional Google search and practice checking whether cited sources actually support the answer.

    Show all 13 steps Hide the steps
    1. Introduction
    2. How Search Works
    3. Knowledge check
    4. Practice
    5. When to Use Web Search
    6. Practice
    7. Verifying Your Results
    8. Knowledge check
    9. AI vs. Traditional Search
    10. Practice
    11. Try It for Yourself
    12. Final Exercise
    13. Wrap Up
  6. Tools & Extensions

    • 14 videos
    • 2 knowledge checks
    • 2 exercises

    Go beyond chat. Learn how AI can run calculations, analyze spreadsheets, create charts, use deep research, connect to apps, and support repeatable workflows through tools, extensions, connectors, and skills.

    Show all 18 steps Hide the steps
    1. Introduction
    2. Introduction, Pt. 2
    3. Example: ChatGPT & Compound Interest
    4. Try This
    5. Code Interpreter
    6. Exercise : Ask ChatGPT to create something that requires code execution.
    7. Blocks in ChatGPT
    8. Artifacts in Claude
    9. Trying Out Code Execution
    10. Introduction to Connectors
    11. Working with Connectors
    12. Knowledge check
    13. Connect with a Service
    14. Exercise : What GPT or plugin did you find, and what does it do?
    15. Connector Access and Permissions
    16. Knowledge check
    17. Try This Week
    18. Wrap Up
  7. AI Limitations & Ethics

    • 14 videos
    • 3 knowledge checks

    Learn what AI gets wrong and why that matters. You’ll explore hallucinations, bias, privacy risks, company AI policies, high-stakes use cases, and a practical approach to fact-checking AI output.

    Show all 17 steps Hide the steps
    1. Introduction
    2. Chatbots & Their Limitations
    3. Chatbots & Hallucinations
    4. Knowledge check
    5. Implications for Misuse
    6. Your Turn: Catch a Hallucination
    7. Understanding Bias and AI
    8. Knowledge check
    9. Try It Yourself
    10. The Three Check Habit: How to Catch the Problems Before They Catch You
    11. Knowledge check
    12. Run the Audit
    13. Try It: Catch Your AI Making a Mistake
    14. What you SHOULDN'T use AI for
    15. How to protect your data from AI
    16. Using AI To Learn Something New and Feel Confident with its Teaching
    17. Wrap up
  8. Final Exercise

    • 8 videos
    • 1 exercise

    Pull together everything you've learned.

    Show all 9 steps Hide the steps
    1. Introduction
    2. Use Your AI to Do Rapid Research
    3. Formatting
    4. Formatting, Part 2
    5. Finalizing Your Report
    6. Adding Visuals
    7. Share Your Work
    8. Wrap Up
    9. Exercise : Final Exercise
  9. Certification of Completion

    Congratulations! With the basics under your belt, you're ready to explore more deeply here at The Neuron Academy.

    1. Certificate of completion

Your instructor

Grant is the voice of The Neuron, the daily newsletter delivering no-hype insights on how AI is changing the world around us, and co-hosts The Neuron’s weekly podcast.

Questions about this course

How long is this course?

It's a full course of 8 lessons. Inside: 81 videos, 18 knowledge checks, 5 exercises and a certificate of completion.

Who teaches this course?

Grant Harvey. Grant is the voice of The Neuron, the daily newsletter delivering no-hype insights on how AI is changing the world around us, and co-hosts The Neuron’s weekly podcast.

Do I get a certificate?

Yes. Finish the course and you get a certificate of completion from The Neuron Academy.

Do I need to know how to code?

No. It's made for beginners, and like everything in the Academy it needs no coding or technical background.

How do I get access?

This course is included in a The Neuron Academy membership. Start with a 7-day free trial, then choose a monthly or yearly plan. Cancel anytime. New lessons are added every week.

The Neuron Academy

Learn AI the way you read The Neuron: short, practical, no hype.

  • 73 courses and lessons, with new ones every week
  • Guided paths for 5 goals, from first prompt to first agent
  • A certificate for every course you finish
  • No coding or technical background required
Start your 7-day free trial

7 days free, then a monthly or yearly plan. Cancel anytime.

AI Basics for Beginners

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