LLearnAI
Courses / Core path
🌱Beginner

AI Foundations

Understand what AI assistants really are, set one up safely, and get your first real wins this week.

A plain-English start for anyone who has never used an AI assistant, or has tried one and was not sure what to do with it. You will learn what these tools are, how to talk to them, where they save you hours, and where they will quietly mislead you if you let them.

What you will be able to do

  • Explain in plain English what a large language model is, and what it is not
  • Choose an assistant, set it up with sensible privacy settings and know what never to paste in
  • Write a prompt with a clear role, task, context and format, then steer the conversation to a good result
  • Use an assistant for everyday work: email, summaries, brainstorming, planning and learning
  • Spot hallucinations, protect personal information under POPIA and keep a human accountable for the output

Course outline

1

What AI actually is

3 lessons · quiz

Cut through the hype. Learn what the words mean, how a chatbot really produces an answer, and where its strengths and weaknesses come from.

  • AI, machine learning and large language models in plain English 8 min
  • How a chatbot produces an answer 10 min
  • What AI is good at, and what it is bad at 8 min
  • Module quiz 6 questions
2

Meet the assistants

4 lessons · quiz

Who makes what, which plan to start on, and how to set up an account without leaking your data.

  • ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot and Groq: who makes what 8 min
  • Free vs paid, web vs app: which to start with 7 min
  • Setting up safely: accounts, data settings, and what never to paste 9 min
  • Exercise: run the same question in two assistants exercise · 15 min
  • Module quiz 6 questions
3

Your first good conversations

4 lessons · quiz

The difference between a useless answer and a useful one is almost always the prompt. Learn the simple structure that works and how to steer once the conversation is going.

  • Talk to it like a smart new colleague 7 min
  • The four parts of a useful prompt: role, task, context, format 9 min
  • Follow-up: steering, correcting and refining 8 min
  • Exercise: rewrite a bad prompt exercise · 15 min
  • Module quiz 6 questions
4

Everyday wins

5 lessons · quiz

The four jobs where an assistant pays for itself in the first week: writing, summarising, thinking and learning.

  • Email and messages: drafts, tone and replies 8 min
  • Summaries and explanations: long documents and jargon 8 min
  • Brainstorming and planning 7 min
  • Learning anything faster 7 min
  • Exercise: your first real task exercise · 20 min
  • Module quiz 6 questions
5

Trust, truth and safety

3 lessons · quiz

Why assistants make things up, what you may and may not paste into them, and where the human stays accountable.

  • Hallucinations: why AI makes things up and how to catch it 9 min
  • Privacy: POPIA, confidential data and public tools 9 min
  • Bias, ethics and keeping a human accountable 8 min
  • Module quiz 6 questions