Artificial intelligence from zero

About this track

No coding and no mathematics. This track explains what artificial intelligence actually is, how a machine learns from examples, what a large language model is really doing when it answers you, and how to write prompts that get useful work done. It spends just as long on the failures — confident wrong answers, bias, and privacy — because knowing when not to trust the output is the skill that separates a useful AI user from a dangerous one. Work through the lessons in order, then take the exam to earn your certificate.

Every lesson is written and hosted here on Yanjye — you never leave the site. Work through them in order, then sit the exam to earn your certificate.

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Lessons

1. 1
   What artificial intelligence actually is

   Cutting through the marketing to the one idea underneath.

   ~15 min
2. 2
   How a machine actually learns

   Weights, error, and the loop that turns examples into a model.

   ~20 min
3. 3
   The kinds of AI you will actually meet

   Narrow versus general, predictive versus generative, and what is real today.

   ~15 min
4. 4
   What a language model is really doing

   Next-word prediction, and why that produces something so convincing.

   ~20 min account needed
5. 5
   Tokens, context and why AI costs money

   The unit AI is measured, billed and limited in.

   ~15 min account needed
6. 6
   Writing a prompt that actually works

   Five changes that turn a vague request into a useful answer.

   ~20 min account needed
7. 7
   When AI is confidently wrong

   Why hallucination happens, where it hides, and how to catch it.

   ~20 min account needed
8. 8
   Bias: where it comes from and who it harms

   How a model absorbs the inequalities in its training data.

   ~18 min account needed
9. 9
   What never to paste into an AI tool

   Where your input goes, and the rules that keep you out of trouble.

   ~15 min account needed
10. 10
    Where AI is already working around you

    Real deployments in agriculture, health, finance, language and education.

    ~15 min account needed
11. 11
    Using AI for real work, without embarrassing yourself

    A workflow for study, writing and analysis that keeps you in control.

    ~18 min account needed
12. 12
    AI careers, and where to go from here

    The real roles, what each requires, and your next track.

    ~15 min account needed