FREE COURSE / SELF-PACED LEARNING

AI Awareness Fundamentals

Learn core AI concepts, limitations, risks and responsible-use decisions in this free, self-paced AI awareness course.

Read the first lesson Explore the curriculum

Read freely. Create an account to save your completed lessons.

Experience level
Beginner
Curriculum
3 modules · 9 lessons
Estimated reading
29 min
Language
English

Reading estimates use lesson text and an allowance for diagrams. Reflection, exercises and optional linked resources take additional time. These are estimates, not measured completion times.

KNOW WHAT YOU’RE WORKING TOWARD

What you’ll learn

  • Explain in plain language why generative AI can be useful without possessing guaranteed truth or understanding.
  • Decide what information is safe to enter by considering identity, sensitivity, purpose, account type, retention, and provider behavior.
  • Research an AI service using primary, product-specific evidence rather than rankings or brand familiarity.
  • Verify generated claims and maintain human control over consequential outputs and agent actions.
  • Recognize and respond to AI-related privacy, security, misinformation, and impersonation incidents.

Is this the right course for you?

Who it’s for

Individuals and teams building a foundation for responsible AI use.

Scope and boundaries

Awareness and decision-making rather than model development or advanced machine-learning engineering.

How you’ll learn

Self-paced reading with explanatory diagrams and linked resources. Reflection and optional resource study take additional time.

Before you begin

  • Basic web or app use — No AI or technical background is required. Familiarity with searching the web and using an online account is enough.

About this course

A learner-first course for anyone using chatbots, image generators, meeting assistants, search tools, coding assistants, or AI agents. It replaces slogans with mental models, demonstrations, and practical checks: how generation differs from retrieval, why confident mistakes happen, how prompts and connected data can travel, how to research a provider, and when a human must slow down or stop.

FOLLOW THE LEARNING PATH

Course curriculum

MODULE 1

Module 1: Understand the Tool You Are Talking To

Explains generation, tokens, probability, context, limitations, and the information boundary created by a prompt.

  1. Why Fluent Is Not the Same as TrueLook inside the basic generation process and learn why confident wording is not evidence.4 min reading
  2. Capability Has BoundariesLearn to spot tasks that look easy to a chatbot but carry hidden accuracy, privacy, or consequence.3 min reading
  3. The Safe Input DecisionDecide what to type, upload, record, or connect before information leaves your hands.3 min reading

MODULE 2

Module 2: Know the Service and Its Reach

Shows how to identify the actual provider, read product-specific evidence, trace the data lifecycle, and understand prompt injection and connected-agent risk.

  1. Who Is Behind This AI Service?Replace popularity rankings with an evidence-led investigation of the exact product you plan to use.3 min reading
  2. Where Prompts, Files, and Outputs Can TravelTrace the lifecycle from your device through the provider, model, tools, logs, people, and deletion paths.3 min reading
  3. AI Agents, Connectors, and Hidden InstructionsUnderstand what changes when AI can read accounts, call tools, and take actions.4 min reading

MODULE 3

Module 3: Verify, Decide, and Recover

Turns skepticism into a usable verification workflow, then covers synthetic media, responsible use, transparency, and incident recovery.

  1. Verify Claims, Citations, Code, and SummariesUse different verification methods for different kinds of generated output.3 min reading
  2. Deepfakes, Synthetic Media, and Persuasive OutputRespond to convincing audio, images, video, and text without depending on unreliable visual giveaways.3 min reading
  3. A Responsible Personal AI PracticeCombine safe inputs, provider evidence, verification, human judgment, disclosure, and recovery into one repeatable practice.3 min reading

Sources and editorial review

Reviewed by Threat Intelligence Lab

Sources linked in the lessons provide context and further reading. Check the original documentation for current platform behavior and requirements.

Selected references are shown here; the lessons contain the full reading lists.

About this learning content: Courses, lessons, assessments, explanations and illustrations may be created with the help of artificial intelligence. We review and check the material and do our best to avoid incorrect or outdated information, but mistakes, omissions or ambiguous questions may remain. Please verify information before relying on it for professional, security, legal or operational decisions. Read the full notice or report an issue.