# AI Guides On: Free AI courses where you build something real

> Free, short AI courses for people who don't code: 3 to 6 lessons each, with the exact prompts, real screenshots and a finished thing at the end.

Each course is 3 to 6 lessons of 5 to 15 minutes, with the exact prompts we used, real screenshots and real results, and a finished thing at the end: a website, a meal plan, a kit of prompts you’ve tested. Every lesson is free to read. Sign in with an email link only if you want to save your progress and get a certificate of completion.

## What every course promises

- Free. No paywall, no trial, no card.
- Every lesson is readable without an account. Just open it and start.
- Sign in with a link sent to your email, only to save your progress. No passwords.
- Finish a course and get a certificate of completion with its own verification link, ready to add to LinkedIn.
- Every course ends with something you made, not a quiz score.

## How it works

1. **Pick a course.** Each one is 3 to 6 short lessons and ends with something you made. New to AI? Start with "AI for beginners".
2. **Follow the real steps.** Each step says exactly what to do, gives you the exact prompt where there is one, and tells you what you should see next. No account needed to read.
3. **Save your progress if you like.** Sign in with an email link to tick off lessons, earn module and course badges and keep a streak. It’s optional.
4. **Get your certificate of completion.** Finish every lesson and get a certificate with its own verification link, ready to add to LinkedIn.

## Available now

- [AI for beginners: start here](https://aiguideson.com/courses/ai-for-beginners-start-here/) (Beginner; 5 lessons, about 45 minutes in total; updated 2026-10-03): What AI chat tools like ChatGPT and Claude are, what they get wrong, and how to use one safely. You’ll make a free account, have your first conversation, learn to check what it tells you, and then finish by making something useful for your week. Markdown: https://aiguideson.com/courses/ai-for-beginners-start-here.md
  - [Lesson 1: What AI chat tools are, and what they get wrong](https://aiguideson.com/courses/ai-for-beginners-start-here/what-ai-chat-tools-are/) (8 minutes). Markdown: https://aiguideson.com/courses/ai-for-beginners-start-here/what-ai-chat-tools-are.md
  - [Lesson 2: Make a free account and choose your privacy settings](https://aiguideson.com/courses/ai-for-beginners-start-here/make-a-free-account/) (8 minutes). Markdown: https://aiguideson.com/courses/ai-for-beginners-start-here/make-a-free-account.md
  - [Lesson 3: Your first conversation](https://aiguideson.com/courses/ai-for-beginners-start-here/your-first-conversation/) (10 minutes). Markdown: https://aiguideson.com/courses/ai-for-beginners-start-here/your-first-conversation.md
  - [Lesson 4: Check what it tells you](https://aiguideson.com/courses/ai-for-beginners-start-here/check-what-it-tells-you/) (9 minutes). Markdown: https://aiguideson.com/courses/ai-for-beginners-start-here/check-what-it-tells-you.md
  - [Lesson 5: Make something useful: a week of meals and a shopping list](https://aiguideson.com/courses/ai-for-beginners-start-here/make-a-meal-plan/) (10 minutes). Markdown: https://aiguideson.com/courses/ai-for-beginners-start-here/make-a-meal-plan.md
- [Prompting for beginners](https://aiguideson.com/courses/prompting-for-beginners/) (Beginner; 5 lessons, about 50 minutes in total; updated 2026-10-03): Ask AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude for what you actually want, and get it back first time more often. You’ll see why vague prompts get vague answers, learn the four parts of a good prompt, show the AI examples, fix answers you don’t like, and finish with your own tested prompt kit. Markdown: https://aiguideson.com/courses/prompting-for-beginners.md
  - [Lesson 1: Why AI answers come back vague](https://aiguideson.com/courses/prompting-for-beginners/why-answers-come-back-vague/) (8 minutes). Markdown: https://aiguideson.com/courses/prompting-for-beginners/why-answers-come-back-vague.md
  - [Lesson 2: The four parts of a good prompt](https://aiguideson.com/courses/prompting-for-beginners/four-parts-of-a-good-prompt/) (10 minutes). Markdown: https://aiguideson.com/courses/prompting-for-beginners/four-parts-of-a-good-prompt.md
  - [Lesson 3: Show it an example](https://aiguideson.com/courses/prompting-for-beginners/show-it-an-example/) (10 minutes). Markdown: https://aiguideson.com/courses/prompting-for-beginners/show-it-an-example.md
  - [Lesson 4: Fix an answer you don’t like](https://aiguideson.com/courses/prompting-for-beginners/fix-an-answer/) (10 minutes). Markdown: https://aiguideson.com/courses/prompting-for-beginners/fix-an-answer.md
  - [Lesson 5: Build your own prompt kit](https://aiguideson.com/courses/prompting-for-beginners/build-your-prompt-kit/) (12 minutes). Markdown: https://aiguideson.com/courses/prompting-for-beginners/build-your-prompt-kit.md
- [Build a website with AI and put it online](https://aiguideson.com/courses/build-a-website-with-ai/) (Beginner; 5 lessons, about 55 minutes in total; updated 2026-10-03): Write a short brief, ask Claude to turn it into a one-page website, check every line, then put it online for free with Cloudflare Pages. There’s no code to learn: you copy, paste, check and drag a folder. Markdown: https://aiguideson.com/courses/build-a-website-with-ai.md
  - [Lesson 1: What you'll build and what you need](https://aiguideson.com/courses/build-a-website-with-ai/what-youll-build/) (5 minutes). Markdown: https://aiguideson.com/courses/build-a-website-with-ai/what-youll-build.md
  - [Lesson 2: Write a short brief for your page](https://aiguideson.com/courses/build-a-website-with-ai/write-a-short-brief/) (10 minutes). Markdown: https://aiguideson.com/courses/build-a-website-with-ai/write-a-short-brief.md
  - [Lesson 3: Ask AI to build your first page](https://aiguideson.com/courses/build-a-website-with-ai/ask-ai-to-build-your-first-page/) (15 minutes). Markdown: https://aiguideson.com/courses/build-a-website-with-ai/ask-ai-to-build-your-first-page.md
  - [Lesson 4: Check it and ask for changes](https://aiguideson.com/courses/build-a-website-with-ai/check-it-and-ask-for-changes/) (10 minutes). Markdown: https://aiguideson.com/courses/build-a-website-with-ai/check-it-and-ask-for-changes.md
  - [Lesson 5: Put it online for free with Cloudflare Pages](https://aiguideson.com/courses/build-a-website-with-ai/put-it-online-for-free/) (15 minutes). Markdown: https://aiguideson.com/courses/build-a-website-with-ai/put-it-online-for-free.md

## Planned

Planned courses are an outline, not a finished course: their lesson counts and times are the plan.

- Build a simple app without coding (planned: 6 lessons, about 70 minutes): Describe a small app in plain English and get a working version you can use and share.
- Make videos with AI (planned: 5 lessons, about 60 minutes): Plan, generate and edit a short video with AI tools, and know what you’re allowed to use it for.
- Build your first AI agent (planned: 5 lessons, about 60 minutes): Set up an AI assistant that follows your instructions and does one job for you, with no code.
- AI automation with no code (planned: 5 lessons, about 55 minutes): Connect the apps you already use so the routine admin happens on its own, with AI where it helps.
- AI for your small business (planned: 4 lessons, about 40 minutes): Find the jobs in your business that AI can take on first, and the ones it shouldn’t touch.
- AI for marketing (planned: 4 lessons, about 45 minutes): Use AI for briefs, first drafts and ideas without your marketing sounding like everyone else.
- AI in spreadsheets (planned: 4 lessons, about 40 minutes): Get AI to write, fix and explain spreadsheet formulas, and check what it gives you.

## Questions

### Is it really free?

Yes. Every lesson, badge and certificate of completion is free. There’s no paid tier, no trial and no card. Some courses use outside tools, so each course lists them with their cost and the date we checked it, and we pick ones with a free plan where we can.

### Do I need an account?

No. Every lesson is readable without one. An account only saves your progress, keeps your badges and lets us issue your certificate of completion. You sign in with a link sent to your email, so there are no passwords.

### Is the certificate accredited?

No. It’s a certificate of completion: it shows you finished every lesson of a course. It isn’t a qualification and we aren’t an accredited body. What it does have is its own verification page, so anyone can check it’s real, and you can add it to LinkedIn.

### Who writes the courses?

Jack Stovell, founder of Adapt Progress Evolve, which publishes this site. Each course is built by actually doing it: the prompts are the ones we used, and the finished page or plan you see is what we got.

### How do you keep the screenshots current?

Every walkthrough is captured by a script we can re-run when a tool changes its screens, and each screenshot shows the date it was captured. Where a step happens inside a signed-in account we can’t script, we say so. We won’t show you an old or made-up screen instead.

### What happens to my data?

We keep your email address, your progress and what you’ve earned. Your public profile is off unless you turn it on. You can export or delete everything from your dashboard at any time. Course news by email is a separate choice from signing in.

Published by Adapt Progress Evolve Limited (UK company 10047328). Written by Jack Stovell.