If you’re new to artificial intelligence and want to learn the basics without spending money, these free AI courses are a great place to start.
They are beginner-friendly, easy to follow, and include certificates or badges you can add to your resume.
Whether you’re exploring AI for your career, business, or personal growth, these programs help you build confidence and learn essential skills step-by-step.
How We Have Chosen These AI Courses
We selected these AI courses based on:
- Easy, beginner-friendly content
- Free access with certificates or verified badges
- Real-world applications of AI and generative AI
- Credibility from trusted providers like Google, IBM, AWS, and DeepLearning.AI
These programs offer strong foundational knowledge and practical skills using today’s most important AI tools.
Top 10 Free AI Programs Featuring Resume Builders and AI Essentials
1. Free AI Resume Builder (Free Tool) – Great Learning
Delivery: Online (self-paced)
Duration: Instant access
The Great Learning’s free AI resume builder is a free, AI-based application designed to help professionals create visually appealing, ATS-optimized resumes, with a focus on AI jobs.
It offers real-time editing of structure, tone, and grammar, and features various customizable templates, including Classic, Visionary, and Elegant. It is ideal for showcasing your AI certificates and enhancing your chances of being hired.
Key Features:
- AI-powered formatting and optimization
- Professionally designed templates
- Enhances interview callbacks with ATS-optimized output
2. AI For Everyone – DeepLearning.AI
Delivery: Online (self-paced)
Duration: ~ 6–8 hours
This non-technical course by Andrew Ng is for anyone curious about AI’s impact. It covers core terms like machine learning and data science without needing programming knowledge. Learn what AI can and cannot do in a business setting.
Key Outcomes:
- Understanding of what AI can and cannot do.
- Ability to spot opportunities to apply AI solutions within an organization.
- Confidence to navigate AI-related discussions and terminology in a business setting.
- Knowledge of how AI impacts business strategy.
- Overview of societal impacts and ethical concerns of AI.
3. Master Artificial Intelligence – Great Learning Academy
Delivery: Online (self-paced)
Duration: ~12.5 hours
This free, AI for everyone course covers foundational AI skills, including machine learning, neural networks, computer vision, and Natural Language Processing (NLP). It provides both theoretical understanding and practical exposure through hands-on projects and coding exercises.
Key Outcomes:
- Foundational skills in key AI subfields like computer vision and NLP.
- Practical experience through 18 coding exercises and 3 projects, potentially including:
- Sentiment Classification of Tweets using RNNs
- Digit Recognition using CNNs
- Clothing Classification using Computer Vision
- A certificate of completion from Great Learning Academy upon finishing the course.
- Access the course on the Great Learning Academy website.
4. AI Essentials – Google
Delivery: Online (self-paced)
Duration: < 15 hours
This Google course focuses on using generative AI tools in daily tasks. It covers core concepts, good prompting, and responsible use. Earn a shareable Google certificate upon completion.
Key Outcomes:
- Ability to apply generative AI tools effectively in a professional setting.
- Understanding of ethical and responsible AI implementation.
- Earn a shareable Google certificate recognized by employers.
- Mastery of effective prompt writing for AI tools.
- Increased productivity through AI integration in daily tasks.
5. Introduction to Artificial Intelligence (AI) – IBM
Delivery: Online (self-paced)
Duration: ~ 8 hours
This IBM course covers core AI concepts like machine learning and neural networks. It explores real-world applications in natural language processing and computer vision. Earn a digital badge to show your knowledge.
Key Outcomes:
- Solid foundation in AI terminology and key technologies.
- Understanding of the history, evolution, and ethical implications of AI.
- Ability to earn an IBM-issued digital badge to showcase foundational knowledge.
- Knowledge of AI applications in various industries.
- Overview of potential AI career paths.
6. Fundamentals of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence – AWS
Delivery: Online (self-paced)
Duration: < 10 hours
This AWS course introduces key AI and ML principles. It includes practical examples relevant to Amazon’s cloud services ecosystem. Perfect for beginners interested in cloud AI.\
Key Outcomes:
- Grasp of essential ML techniques and applications.
- Understanding of AI within a central technology platform (AWS).
- Knowledge of core machine learning terminology.
- Awareness of key AWS AI services.
- Ability to identify basic ML use cases in business.
7. Introduction to Generative AI – Google Cloud
Delivery: Online (self-paced)
Duration: ~ 30 minutes
A quick microlearning course explaining generative AI concepts. Learn how it’s used and how it differs from traditional machine learning. Earn a Google-verified skill badge quickly.
Key Outcomes:
- Clear definition of Generative AI concepts.
- Understanding of different applications of generative AI.
- Awareness of Google Cloud’s AI development tools.
- Quick foundational knowledge for further learning.
- Earn a Google-verified skill badge.
8. Prompt Engineering for ChatGPT – DeepLearning.AI
Delivery: Online (self-paced)
Duration: ~ 1–2 hours
This short course teaches you how to write better prompts for AI tools. Learn best practices and specific techniques to get better results from AI models like ChatGPT.
Key Outcomes:
- Master the five steps to writing effective prompts.
- Learn prompt patterns for different tasks.
- Build a personal library of reusable prompts.
- Improve the quality and usefulness of AI outputs.
- Understand techniques for marketing, coding, writing, and more.
9. AI for Beginners – HP LIFE
Delivery: Online (self-paced)
Duration: ~ 2–3 hours
This accessible course requires no technical skills and focuses on AI in business. It uses simple examples to show how AI is used every day. Earn a free certificate upon completion.
Key Outcomes:
- Understanding how AI can be applied in a small business context.
- Knowledge of basic AI ethics and responsible use.
- Ability to plan simple tasks using AI tools.
- Earn a free certificate of completion from HP LIFE.
- Boost employability with practical AI knowledge.
10. Generative AI Fundamentals – IBM
Delivery: Online (self-paced)
Duration: ~ 8 hours
This IBM course dives into the basics of generative AI. It covers machine learning environments and responsible AI use. Learn how to use AI for content creation and earn a digital badge.
Key Outcomes:
- Understanding the core principles of generative AI.
- Knowledge of virtual environments for AI development.
- Insight into responsible AI and risk mitigation practices.
- Ability to apply generative AI in content creation.
- Earn a digital badge from IBM SkillsBuild.
Conclusion
These free online courses with certificates make it easy to learn artificial intelligence without any cost. Each course includes simple lessons, hands-on examples, and certificates or badges you can use to strengthen your resume.
If you’re ready to understand AI and build fundamental skills, these options give you a strong starting point.
Start your learning journey today with top free courses that provide certificates.