AI Basics
Start here if AI still feels like magic. No code, no jargon — just what these tools are and how to talk to them.
Beginner · 10 lessons · ~2 h
Lessons
- 1AI in plain wordsA short, jargon-free introduction for people who have heard about AI but barely used it. What it actually is, how it got here, what it is genuinely good and bad at, and how to try it in the next five minutes.
- 2The AI Mindset: how to talk to AI so it actually helpsTreat AI like an oracle that guides and teaches you — not an implementer that does your work. Ask constantly, feed it context, stay the decision maker. My personal rules.
- 3The one call: how every AI product actually worksChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, coding agents, RAG, MCP — all of it is the same single action repeated: send text in, get the most likely continuation out.
- 4Which AI assistant to pick: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini — and what to start withChatGPT vs Claude vs Gemini vs the rest: what each one is genuinely good at, which accounts to create, and which one to open first. A comparison you can act on tonight.
- 5Everyday AI: six scenarios you can use todayEmails, trip planning, learning new things, translation, meal plans, explaining documents — concrete step-by-step scenarios with copy-ready prompts. No tech background needed.
- 6Free AI tools: what you can do today for zero dollarsFree tiers of ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini, free image generation, free transcription — what actually works for free, what the catches are, and where the free ride ends.
- 7Setting up your AI environment: accounts, browser and five terminal commandsTwo accounts, one browser, five terminal commands — a complete 15-minute setup for Windows, macOS, Linux and phone, with zero technical background and an honest list of things to skip.
- 8Your first coding agent: the smallest useful setupPick a coding agent — Claude Code, Codex CLI or opencode, two of them free to start — install it, sign in, and give it a first safe task: a small web page in a fresh folder. No programming experience needed, about 15 minutes, and you finish with a working result.
- 9What AI actually costs: tokens, context and how to avoid surprise billsTokens and context explained like to a friend, subscriptions vs pay-as-you-go, what free tiers really include, and the three habits that keep your bill at zero or near it.
- 10When AI helps and when it doesn't: realistic expectationsWhere AI genuinely helps, where it confidently fails, what hallucinations are in everyday terms, the named failure modes, and the verification habits that make you trust it correctly.