Generative AI
Free generative AI courses that explain it properly, then teach you to use it
Generative AI is AI that creates new content, such as text, images, audio or code, from a prompt. ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini are all built on it. These free courses explain how it works in plain English, then turn that understanding into practical skill: prompts that work, choosing a tool, and catching the confident mistakes these systems make.
Start with Introduction to Generative AI for the foundations: what large language models are, why they sometimes invent things, and how to choose a model, with no maths or coding required.
6 free courses, in the order we would take them
Introduction to Generative AI
How the magic works (spoiler: it's math).
What generative AI actually is, how large language models really work, why they sometimes lie with confidence, and how to pick the right model for the job. Real-world examples, zero jargon-gatekeeping.
Beginner · 12 lessons · ~37 min
FoundationsPrompt Engineering
Talk to robots. Get better answers.
Learn to write prompts that get you exactly what you want from AI, from your first 'hello' to advanced techniques like few-shot examples and chain-of-thought. No coding required, wit strongly encouraged.
Beginner · 12 lessons · ~33 min
FoundationsGetting Started with ChatGPT
Your first hour, properly spent.
A complete beginner's tour: what the screen is showing you, how to ask for things, what the different modes do, what it costs, and the settings worth changing on day one.
Beginner · 6 lessons · ~16 min
FoundationsGetting Started with Gemini
Google's assistant, from scratch.
A complete beginner's tour of Google Gemini: what the screen shows you, how to ask well, how it works alongside Gmail and Docs, and which settings are worth changing on day one.
Beginner · 6 lessons · ~17 min
FoundationsContext Engineering for Reliable AI
Stop long chats going sideways.
Why long AI conversations drift, forget your constraints and quietly contradict themselves, and what to do about it. How much context a request actually needs, how to keep rules alive, and how to make AI work only from your own documents.
Intermediate · 6 lessons · ~14 min
Stay SafeAI Safety, Privacy and Verification
Trust nothing. Check everything.
Spot fakes and scams, work out what is safe to paste into an AI tool, verify what you are told, and set sensible rules for yourself and the people you work with.
Beginner · 6 lessons · ~18 min
Worth reading alongside
- Google's Free AI Courses: What Is Actually Free (and What Costs Money)Some Google AI courses are genuinely free, such as Introduction to Generative AI. Google AI Essentials and the AI Professional Certificate are paid.
- Are DeepLearning.AI Courses Free? What You Get Without PayingPartly. Free DeepLearning.AI members can watch course videos, but quizzes, labs and certificates need Pro. What that means for AI For Everyone.
- ChatGPT vs Claude vs Gemini: Which Should You Use?A fair, evergreen comparison of the three main AI assistants, organised by what you actually want to do rather than by feature list.
- What Is Prompt Engineering? A Plain English GuidePrompt engineering is the skill of writing instructions an AI can actually follow. Here is what it means, why it works, and the handful of habits that do most of the work.
Common questions
- What is generative AI in simple terms?
- Software that produces new text, images, audio or code by predicting what should come next, based on patterns learned from very large amounts of existing material. It does not look answers up the way a search engine does, which is why it can sound certain and still be wrong.
- Are these generative AI courses free with a certificate?
- Yes. Every course is free to read in full with no signup and no card, and finishing one lets you print a free certificate of completion or add it to your LinkedIn profile. LearnWithZavi is not accredited, so the certificate records that you completed the lessons rather than acting as a formal qualification.
- Do I need maths or coding?
- No. These courses teach you to understand and use generative AI. Building models yourself is a different, much more technical path that needs programming and maths.
- How long does it take?
- Each course is split into short lessons of a few minutes each, and the total time for every course is shown on its card. You can stop at any point and pick up where you left off.
- Which generative AI tool should I learn first?
- Whichever you already have access to. The skills transfer: a well-written prompt works across ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini. Getting Started with ChatGPT and Getting Started with Gemini each cover one tool from the first screen.
Looking for something else? Browse all 42 free AI courses or let Start Here pick a route for you.