Beginner course
AI Literacy Basics: Applying Generative AI in the Workplace
Practical AI for beginners. Learn generative AI tools for your job, no programming or tech background required.
Beginner
Course facts
- Last updated 02/2026
- English English [Auto], Dutch [Auto] , 9 more
- Instructor: Nicolle Merrill
- practical AI capability and workflow improvement
What you'll learn
Practical outcomes
- Demonstrate the ability to use at least three generative AI tools relevant to your job function.
- Apply prompt engineering techniques to effectively communicate with AI tools for improved results.
- Develop a strategy for integrating generative AI tools into your daily work routine to enhance productivity.
- Identify at least five practical applications of generative AI in various business functions.
- Evaluate the potential benefits and limitations of implementing generative AI in your role.
- Formulate effective questions and prompts to maximize the utility of generative AI in problem-solving scenarios.
- Adapt existing workflows to incorporate generative AI tools for improved efficiency.
- Articulate the potential impact of generative AI on your industry and career trajectory.
- Communicate the value and limitations of generative AI to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
- Create a personal action plan for continuous learning and skill development in the field of AI.
Curriculum
5 sections • 42 lectures • 4h 49m total length
Introduction6 lectures • 28min
- Welcome to Your AI learning journey02:29
- Course Overview: Experimenting with AI, no programming required04:22
- What is Generative AI (GenAI)?05:34
- Activity: Exploring Generative AI as a Multi-Use Tool05:28
- Activity: Researching how Generative AI tools are used in your industry03:41
- Addressing the fears: Will AI take my job?06:15
Understanding Generative AI3 lectures • 26min
- How models and data power AI06:21
- Large Language Models (LLMs) in the workplace07:56
- Beyond LLMs: Audio, Image, and Video generation models12:12
Get Started Using AI at Work19 lectures • 2hr 12min
- How to use Generative AI in your job12:46
- Setting boundaries on AI use
- How to prompt AI and get results that matter at work08:49
- Data privacy 10105:29
- Troubleshooting unhelpful prompts and bad outputs04:42
- Adding data to prompts for better AI outputs06:32
- Activity: Invitation to prompt along during demos01:33
- Demo: How to create, transform, and personalize content with LLMs05:28
- Demo: How to summarize, organize, and brainstorm with LLMs04:37
- Demo: Q&A with documents, urls, and images with LLMs05:37
- Demo: Data analysis with LLMs04:56
- Demo: Problem solving, research, and planning with LLMs07:25
- Demo: Design with image and video generation06:33
- Demo: Vibe coding (for non-programmers)08:14
- Using prompting flows that streamline your work08:47
- Activity: Find five prompts to use in your job01:09
- Limitations of working with Generative AI & LLMs06:22
- The impact and ethical considerations of Generative AI18:11
- Navigating hallucinations in outputs09:21
- Understanding bias in Generative AI05:58
Level Up: Make AI Part of How You Work9 lectures • 1hr 6min
- AI powered-workflows: How AI has changed the workplace18:31
- Finding the right Generative AI tools for your work10:06
- Activity: Identifying Generative AI tools for your daily work tasks01:41
- Save time in your work with prompt templates03:06
- Activity: Build your team's prompt library02:19
- Create Custom GPTs for your job06:47
- AI agents: How they work and what sets them apart from AI assistants09:03
- Demo: Exploring 3 different AI agents for the workplace11:24
- Activity: Getting hands on with an AI agent03:14
The impact of generative AI in the workplace5 lectures • 36min
- The impact of Generative AI on careers in 202615:28
- AI Skills that boost your resume and advance your career05:04
- Activity: Asking curious questions01:58
- Where Generative AI is heading next plus resources to stay informed11:27
- Final Activity: A prompt to celebrate your new AI skills02:28
Who it is for
- This course on AI Literacy and using generative AI tools in the workplace is designed specifically for business professionals and working professionals who do not have a programming or technical background. It caters to individuals across various industries, job roles, and departments who want to develop a practical understanding of generative AI and how to effectively leverage these tools to enhance their productivity and job performance, without needing to learn how to code or get into the technical weeds.
- Whether you're in marketing, sales, operations, HR, finance, project management or any other business function, this course will empower you to become AI-literate and harness the potential of generative AI in your specific workplace context. No prior programming experience is required. The curriculum is tailored for non-technical professionals, focusing on building conceptual knowledge about generative AI, applying critical thinking to its uses and implications, and gaining hands-on experience with user-friendly generative AI applications relevant to typical business workflows.
Course description
Overview
Master AI literacy basics with this generative AI for beginners course. Employers are paying a premium for AI skills. Are you ready to become the go-to AI person in your workplace? AI can get you a raise. The consulting firm PWC found that "jobs that require AI skills carry up to a 25% wage premium on average, underlining the value of these skills to companies." This course teaches you how to use AI tools at work. In this course, you'll: Build confidence in AI basics and generative AI understanding Learn to use AI tools effectively in your workplace Adapt your career for the AI-driven future Develop an informed opinion on the impact of AI in our workplaces Why take this course? Boost your career with in-demand AI skills – no coding required. This course is perfect for: Professionals looking to enhance productivity with AI Team leaders wanting to understand AI benefits for their departments Career changers seeking valuable AI skills for their resume Anyone curious about AI but intimidated by tech jargon The details: In this course, we dive deep into the key topics on everyone's mind: 1.
How does generative AI work? We start with AI basics, breaking down complex concepts like "training a model" into bite-sized, digestible explanations. No snooze-fest here – just the foundational knowledge you need to speak confidently about AI in your workplace. 2.
How is generative AI used in the workplace? Discover real-world AI applications across industries. We go beyond a typical ChatGPT course for beginners here to give you practical ways to use ChatGPT and other generative AI tools in the workplace. You'll learn: How to evaluate and select AI tools for your role Practical ways to use ChatGPT (and other AI tools) at work How to use prompt templates to supercharge your productivity (you get access to over 50+ prompt templates for workplace tasks) 3.
What's the impact of generative AI on careers? We'll explore how AI is reshaping the workplace and answer the big question: Will AI take my job? Spoiler alert: It's complicated.
What sets this course apart? Up-to-date content on the latest generative AI products No coding required – we focus on practical applications Interactive activities to get you hands-on with AI tools and using them for work Real-world examples across industries Downloadable resources and cheat sheets An extended discussion on the ethics and impact of Generative AI Discussion on the impact of Generative AI on your career Certificate of completion to showcase your new skills Who's teaching this AI goodness? Meet Nicolle Merrill, your AI-literacy guide. A four-time career changer, Nicolle has worn many hats: study abroad advisor, luxury travel writer, global career coach, author, public speaker/trainer, and now Generative AI Product Designer. When Nicolle started learning about AI in 2018, she had no technical background. She sat through hours of technical YouTube videos trying to make sense of engineering concepts. Eventually, she landed a role as a chatbot designer, combining her love of language with her curiosity about AI. As she continued building AI products, she noticed the lack of training to teach non-technical teams about AI. Frustrated by boring, overly technical AI courses, Nicolle created Boring AI (plot twist: it's not boring) to make AI literacy accessible for non-techies like her past self.
Why are there so many donuts? AI branding and visuals are dominated by the same colors and themes: dark blue and neon blue colors, robots and code for visuals. That's boring. So Nicolle took a different approach for her AI branding: bright colors and donuts, which is the opposite of how AI is portrayed normally. All of Nicolle's courses include pictures of donuts and references to donuts when demo'ing concepts. A side effect of taking Nicolle's courses is that many students are hungry for donuts afterwards. Recent feedback: "Informative and highly motivating." "I thought AI was just marketing hype. Now I know all the ways I can use it. Thank you!" "Very insightful session. Hopefully you'll offer similar sessions in the near future." Ready to embrace your curiosity? Investing in your AI literacy isn't just about keeping up – it's about getting ahead. This course is designed to make you the go-to AI person in your workplace, opening doors to exciting opportunities and career potential.
Stay curious!
Instructor
Nicolle Merrill
Nicolle Merrill AI Literacy Skill Instructor When I first learned about AI, I was completely lost. It was 2017 and everything was made for engineers and data scientists. I was not either of those things and all the content was boring, jargon-filled, and mostly not useful. I swore that if I ever learned AI well enough to teach it to people, I'd make it far more interesting. So here we are! I spent 8 years building enterprise AI products in HR, FinTech, and DevOps, where I worked as a conversational AI designer and later, a prompt engineer. Then I decided to launch my own training firm, Boring AI, specifically for teaching AI skills to non-technical learners. Since 2022, I've taught over 25,000 people across 20+ countries. My goal is to help you learn AI without needing a technical background or boring you to death. My teaching style is hands-on, beginner-friendly, and most importantly jargon-free. My training focuses on real-world practice rather than theory so you can quickly apply what you learn. You're not going to get the history of ML or transformers. I'm not going to give you the hype either. Instead, I'll teach you the applied AI skills and approaches that keep you up-to-date in a rapidly changing workplace. Best of all, you're not getting the same generated content you'd get from an LLM. You can use AI to learn about AI, but sometimes you need a human to make sense of it all. So all of my courses are designed from questions asked by employees like you about generative AI. That means each lesson contains answers about using AI at work that are relevant for your job right now. Outside of Udemy courses, I work with mid-size companies to build AI upskilling programs for non-technical teams and run work redesign sprints. I'm also professor at Porto Business School where I teach executives in digital transformation and generative AI product development to MBA students. Before working in AI, I was as a career coach at Yale School of Management. I wrote a book on upskilling for an AI-driven workplace, called Punch Doubt in the Face: How to Upskill, Change Careers, and Beat the Robots. As a result, I'm always thinking about to teach you the most relevant AI skills that prepare you to navigate a changing workplace and career.
