AI-oriented Training Opportunities Securing Your Career in 2025 at no Cost: 5 Online Courses for Artificial Intelligence Agents
In the ever-evolving world of technology, artificial intelligence (AI) continues to shape the way we work and live. For those aspiring to delve into the field of AI development, several free online courses from industry leaders are now accessible. These courses, offered by Google Cloud, IBM, Hugging Face, Vanderbilt University, Simplilearn, Syntax, and Script, provide an excellent opportunity to gain practical knowledge and skills necessary for building AI agents.
Kicking off the journey is Google Cloud's 'Introduction to Large Language Models', a concise course (approximately 1 hour) that offers an overview of large language models (LLMs), their workings, and real-world applications. The course introduces practical knowledge for working effectively with models like Bard or ChatGPT.
Following this, IBM's 'Generative AI - Prompt Engineering Basics' course, available on Coursera, dives deeper into the fundamentals of prompt engineering. This 9-hour course teaches you how to craft effective prompts to obtain accurate AI outputs, with techniques such as chain-of-thought prompting and practical exercises on guiding AI behaviour.
Hugging Face, known for its hands-on tutorials and resources, offers a variety of AI and prompt engineering resources, often free via their website and Hugging Face Spaces. These resources are invaluable for fine-tuning large language models and building AI agents.
For those seeking certification, Vanderbilt University offers prompt engineering courses that include expert instruction and applied learning projects. These courses can award certificates and delve deep into prompt skills, making them ideal for building AI agents effectively.
For a more comprehensive approach, platforms like Simplilearn, Syntax, and Script provide curated lists of free AI courses covering fundamentals like machine learning, natural language processing, and deep learning. These courses complement the agent-building focus of the above courses.
For a hands-on project experience, Coursera hosts the 'AI Agents in LangGraph' guided project, teaching how to build controllable agents using the LangGraph framework. This project is suitable for those with intermediate Python skills.
In summary, these courses provide a blend of theoretical understanding and practical projects, aiming to help individuals build AI agents effectively and for free. Begin with Google Cloud's introduction and IBM's prompt engineering basics, explore Hugging Face’s tutorials, consider Vanderbilt’s prompt engineering program for certification, and expand with free AI fundamentals from other platforms. These courses, combined, offer a specialization that takes approximately two months and covers designing, building, and deploying intelligent agents using Python and generative AI. The skills gained will be valuable across industries as AI continues to transform how we work. The curriculum includes hands-on projects simulating real industry scenarios, making these courses an excellent stepping stone towards a career in AI development.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is introduced through Google Cloud's 'Introduction to Large Language Models' course, offering an overview of large language models and practical knowledge for working effectively with models like Bard or ChatGPT. IBM's 'Generative AI - Prompt Engineering Basics' course, further delves into the fundamentals of prompt engineering, teaching techniques such as chain-of-thought prompting to craft effective prompts for AI outputs.