With the competition for users heating up in the AI space and ChatGPT having some formidable competitors in the market, we're seeing more free tools offered to users to get them to stick around. At the end of the day, we know this all about big data and getting customers attached to an "ascension model" but with artificial intelligence, these are tools that are absolutely necessary to keep up in this new fast-paced, tech-focused paradigm.
On top of the competition for users we also see a push nationally to provide technology focused education resources from real institutions and big tech companies. This is in response to there not being enough skilled tech professionals to fill all the positions that are being created as a result of growth in the industry. A recent Forbes article stated that "software developers and related professionals are expected to see 153,900 annual job openings, while information security analysts are projected to have 16,800 annual job openings". No wonder we've seen free tech/AI curriculum released from the likes of Harvard, Stanford, Google, Nvidia, Amazon, and other well accredited brands and institutions. Another reason these courses are rolling out at such a pace is these institutions are coming to the realization that the 4+ year path to a degree just can't keep up with the pace at which tech is moving. Think about how much technology has advanced within the past 2 years. All the ideals from 4 years ago are obsolete. See the bottom of this post for a short list of some of the more reputable free AI courses out there. Also, keep in mind that the providers of these courses will be steering you towards their products in a lot of instances.
Back to the free AI tools. It seems like every month we're seeing massive advancements when it comes to the power of LLMs and generative AI. With the industry leaders (OpenAI's ChatGPT, Claude by Anthropic, Gemini by Google) being established for the time being, there is an ongoing war for users and a lot of formerly paid options are now free. Plus with the constant upgrades you can pull off more right within their native interfaces. While they have limitations compared to the paid plans, you can still get a lot done and see what's possible.
There's also a lot of what I call "spin-off" apps and tools that utilize the big LLMs to pull off some amazing stuff. For example, my favorite at the moment is Websim, which uses Claude AI's latest upgrade, Sonnet 3.5 and its coding abilities to give users the first true "text-to-app/website" experience. Check out the homepage, it'll blow your mind what kind of web apps people are producing from just a prompt or a hypothetical url 🤯
All the new upgrades that are taking place make it relatively easy to go from concept to creation, especially when it comes to building web applications. For example, I recently collaborated with a colleague to create a Hebrew Alphabet course and assessment. I used a course software to build the course but I used AI to create extra study tools for anyone that purchased. Check out this Hebrew Alphabet flash card app I built in under an hour. Just 2 years ago I would've needed a 3rd party and some capital to get this done, and it would probably take weeks.
Free AI Courses
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
AWS offers a variety of free courses on AI and machine learning through their platforms. Some notable courses include:
a. Introduction to Generative Artificial Intelligence: An introductory course on generative AI, its applications, and foundational concepts.
b. Low-Code Machine Learning on AWS: Learn how to prepare data, train, and deploy machine learning models with minimal coding.
Google Cloud
Google Cloud provides comprehensive AI and machine learning courses, ranging from beginner to advanced levels:
a. Introduction to Generative AI: A beginner course on generative AI.
b. Machine Learning on Google Cloud: Covers the fundamentals of machine learning on Google Cloud.
Harvard University
Harvard offers several free online courses on AI, which are highly regarded:
a. CS50’s Introduction to Artificial Intelligence with Python: A comprehensive course on AI algorithms and practical projects.
b. Data Science: Machine Learning: Part of the HarvardX Data Science Professional Certificate.
IBM
a. IBM provides a specialization on Coursera that covers the basics of AI and its applications:
b. AI Foundations for Everyone: A specialization that introduces AI basics, applications, and ethical considerations. Available on Coursera.
These courses are great starting points for anyone looking to build a solid foundation in artificial intelligence/machine learning on a budget. Combine a cert or two with developing some level of mastery of the top LLMs and you'll for sure put yourself in the driver seat.