32 courses for beginners from 15 providers. The highest rated is Generative AI and its Business Applications from TAFE NSW at 4.6 out of 5.
Covers how generative AI tools produce text and images and how they can be put to work in everyday business tasks such as drafting content and brainstorming.
| Course | Our rating | Cost | Time | Credential |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Generative AI and its Business Applications | 4.6 / 5 | Free | 4 hours | certificate of completion (free) |
| TAFE NSW AI Microskills Bundle | 4.6 / 5 | Free | 11 hours | certificate of completion (free) |
| Elements of AI | 4.6 / 5 | Free | 36 hours | certificate of completion (free) |
| TAFE NSW Introduction to AI | 4.6 / 5 | Free | 2.5 hours | certificate of completion (free) |
| TAFE NSW Responsible AI | 4.6 / 5 | Free | 2 hours | certificate of completion (free) |
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Covers how generative AI tools produce text and images and how they can be put to work in everyday business tasks such as drafting content and brainstorming. It also covers the limits and considerations to keep in mind before relying on these tools.
A single enrolment that adds all four IATD AI microskills: Introduction to AI, Generative AI and its Business Applications, Responsible AI and Introduction to Agentic AI. It is the easiest way to work through a complete, free AI literacy pathway in one sitting or over a few weeks.
A plain-language introduction to what AI is, how it solves problems and how machine learning and neural networks work, with no programming or heavy maths. It closes by looking at what AI means for jobs and society. One of the most widely taken free AI courses in the world.
A gentle, non-technical first look at what AI is, how machines learn from data and where AI shows up in everyday life and work. It was built with the National AI Centre and is the flagship course in the Australian Government's free AI scholarship program.
Looks at the ethical, legal and policy questions that come with using AI, such as privacy, fairness, transparency and accountability. It uses business case studies to show what responsible AI governance looks like in practice.
Google's entry-level course on using generative AI tools at work: generating ideas, researching, drafting and speeding up routine tasks. It also covers prompting basics and how to spot bias and other risks. The same course is sold on Coursera, but Google now offers it at no cost on its own Google Skills platform.
An eight-week course on what makes teams work, including virtual teams, team roles, communication and diversity. It finishes with how to talk about your teamwork experience with employers. Completion earns an Open University badge and 24 CPD points.
An eight-week course, about three hours a week, on building the resilience to handle change and setbacks at work. You assess your own resilience, look at outside pressures on careers and set practical goals. Completion earns an Open University badge and 24 CPD points.
Anthropic's flagship tool-neutral course on working well with AI, built with academics from University College Cork and Ringling College. It teaches the 4D Framework (Delegation, Description, Discernment, Diligence) plus a grounding in how generative AI works and effective prompting.
Explains what agentic AI is, meaning AI that can carry out tasks with some autonomy, and why organisations are adopting it. It draws on Australian case studies and covers governance of agent systems and what they may mean for your career.
A short module on protecting personal information when using AI at work. It covers what counts as personal information, how AI tools use it, the privacy risks involved and what to do if an AI-related privacy breach occurs.
An introductory online micro-credential from TAFE SA that explains AI in simple terms, shows where it is used in work and daily life, and builds confidence to try common AI tools. Ethics, privacy and safety are covered throughout.
A free university course that works through the big ethical questions raised by AI, such as who is accountable when AI causes harm, how transparent systems should be, and what fairness means. Each chapter pairs short readings with written exercises that are peer reviewed.
An eight-session course on using digital tools, from spreadsheets to argument maps, to reason more clearly and make better choices. It ends by linking these thinking tools to modern AI. Completion earns an Open University badge and 24 CPD points.
A practical starting course on using Claude for everyday work. It walks through a first conversation, getting better answers, and the main features such as projects, artifacts, skills, connected tools and research, then shows role-based examples.
A short, plain-language IBM introduction to how AI learns, how people and AI can work together, and the benefits, risks and ethics involved. It finishes with a hands-on task guiding an AI assistant through a simple business problem.
An introductory course that explains why generative AI behaves the way it does, as a companion to the AI Fluency framework. It covers next token prediction, knowledge, working memory and steerability, with hands-on try-it activities, so learners can diagnose odd outputs and fix them.
OpenAI's entry-level course on working with AI at work. Learners pick a real task they do often and practise the basics of clear instructions, supplying context, reviewing outputs and responsible use, while learning how large language models and ChatGPT work.
The self-paced study path for Microsoft's AI Business Professional certification, aimed at non-technical staff. It covers drafting content, analysing data, running meetings and handing multi-step work to Copilot agents. Learners can stop at the free path or sit a 45-minute proctored exam for a formal Microsoft certification.
A seven-module Microsoft Learn path that starts with what AI is and how generative AI works, then moves to smarter web searching, responsible use and everyday use of Microsoft Copilot. It was built under Microsoft's philanthropy programme, so some examples lean towards nonprofit work, but the content suits any beginner.
A four-part Google Cloud path that explains what generative AI and large language models are, how prompting works and how to apply responsible AI principles. It is conceptual rather than tool training, which makes it a neutral primer before picking a specific product.
Andrew Ng's non-technical course on what AI can and cannot do, how AI projects run and how a company can build its AI capability. It is the most widely taken business-focused AI primer and suits managers who need to spot sensible AI opportunities.
A short, non-technical course from Andrew Ng on how generative AI works, what it is good and bad at, and how to use it in everyday work and business projects. It also covers the risks and wider effects on jobs and society.
A hands-on course on having Claude work directly with your files, folders and apps to produce real outputs. It covers running a first task, giving Claude standing context through instructions, projects, skills and plugins, using Claude in Chrome and Microsoft 365, and safe habits for sharing multi-step work.
AWS's foundation plan covering AI, machine learning and generative AI concepts, real use cases, responsible AI, prompting and governance. It is more technical than the decision-maker plan and prepares learners for the AWS Certified AI Practitioner exam, which is open to business roles.
A recorded MIT workshop that introduces AI to people with little or no background, covering machine vision, data preparation and reinforcement learning. It includes a hands-on activity where you train a simple algorithm yourself.
Psychologist Richard Nisbett teaches the everyday statistics, logic and awareness of bias needed to think clearly about evidence. Well suited to judging AI outputs, data claims and business decisions with a sceptical eye.
One of the most popular online courses ever, teaching evidence-based techniques for learning new skills faster and beating procrastination. Useful for anyone who needs to keep reskilling as AI changes their job.
A practical, highly rated university course on writing better prompts for ChatGPT and similar tools. It teaches reusable prompt patterns and examples you can apply straight away to everyday work tasks.
A rolling calendar of livestreams, virtual office hours and some US in-person workshops run by OpenAI and partners. Upcoming sessions at 29 September 2026 include ChatGPT 101 for government professionals, repeatable AI workflows for nonprofit fundraisers, measuring the return on LLMs, and using ChatGPT for performance reviews, with replays posted for some past sessions.
A four-course Google series focused only on prompting. It teaches a five-step method for writing prompts and applies it to everyday tasks such as email, data analysis, building presentations and using AI as a thinking partner.
Google's newer, broader follow-on to AI Essentials, made up of eight short courses built around hands-on work projects. It covers using Gemini for research, writing, content, data analysis and even building simple apps without code.
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