Introduction
What this course is, who it's for, and how to get the most out of it.
AI stopped being a science-fiction word and became a tool you can open in a browser tab. This course is for the small-office owner, the office manager, the one-person IT department — anyone who keeps a business running and keeps hearing that “AI changes everything” without a straight answer about how.
No hype. No code required. By the end you’ll understand what these tools actually are, where they’re useful, where they’ll burn you, and how to put them to work without hiring a data scientist.
How this is organized
The course is built in short modules. Each one stands on its own, but they build:
- The Brains — what large language models are and why they behave the way they do.
- The Fuel — data: what these systems learn from and what you feed them.
- The Plumbing — how apps talk to each other so AI can actually do things.
- Machine Memory — how AI looks things up instead of guessing.
- The Limits — where it breaks, forgets, and makes things up.
- Doing Work, Not Just Talking — turning a chatbot into something that gets jobs done.
Work through it in order if you’re new. Jump around if you already know the basics.
You don’t need to remember everything. You need to know what exists, what it’s called, and when to reach for it.