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A Beginner’s Guide to Using AI at Work

Diane Flynn

4.5

Based on 242 ratings

Diane Flynn

Artificial Intelligence is no longer just for tech experts—AI is part of the everyday workplace. From emails and reports to customer support and project planning, AI tools are reshaping how we work, communicate, and create. The question isn’t if AI will affect your job, but how ready you are to use it well.

AI Primer for the Workplace is a short, hands-on course designed to give you confidence with AI in just 30 minutes. You’ll learn what AI is (without the jargon), see practical examples of how it’s already being used across roles and industries, and get step-by-step guidance for using popular tools like ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, and Google Workspace AI.

You’ll also practice one of the most important new skills at work: prompting—the art of asking AI the right way to get better, faster, and more useful results. Along the way, you’ll learn how to avoid common pitfalls, use AI responsibly, and reframe it as a partner that frees you up for the work only humans can do—judgment, creativity, and relationships.

By the end of this course, you’ll not only understand the basics of AI—you’ll have tried it for yourself on real tasks, giving you a foundation you can build on as AI tools continue to evolve.

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What's inside

Learning objectives

Explain in plain language what ai is and why it matters in the workplace
Identify practical, everyday ways ai can boost productivity
Use popular ai tools to summarize, draft, brainstorm, and organize work

Apply effective prompting techniques to get clear, accurate, and useful results
Recognize the limits and risks of ai, and use it responsibly and ethically
Reframe ai as a partner that frees you up for higher-value, human work

Explain in plain language what ai is and why it matters in the workplace
Identify practical, everyday ways ai can boost productivity
Use popular ai tools to summarize, draft, brainstorm, and organize work
Apply effective prompting techniques to get clear, accurate, and useful results
Recognize the limits and risks of ai, and use it responsibly and ethically
Reframe ai as a partner that frees you up for higher-value, human work

Syllabus

Build foundational awareness of what AI is, how it works in simple terms, and why it matters by exploring myths, real-world examples, and everyday use cases

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Career center

Learners who complete A Beginner’s Guide to Using AI at Work will develop knowledge and skills that may be useful to these careers:

Content Creator

As a Content Creator, you craft compelling narratives and engaging materials across various platforms. This role involves brainstorming ideas, drafting text, and refining copy for articles, websites, and marketing campaigns. This course can significantly elevate your effectiveness by teaching you how to leverage popular AI tools like ChatGPT to generate initial concepts, outline structures, and even draft full sections of content. Mastering prompting techniques, as taught in "A Beginner’s Guide to Using AI at Work," is paramount for directing AI to produce relevant and high-quality outputs that align with your creative vision. The course also addresses responsible AI use, which is critical for maintaining originality and ethical standards in content creation. By reframing AI as a collaborative partner, you can focus on the unique human elements of storytelling, judgment, and creativity, while AI handles repetitive or preliminary tasks. This enables you to produce more impactful content efficiently and consistently, staying ahead in a dynamic digital landscape.

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Social Media Manager

A Social Media Manager curates and strategizes online presence, creating engaging posts, interacting with communities, and analyzing digital trends across various platforms. This role thrives on fresh content ideas and efficient communication. "A Beginner’s Guide to Using AI at Work" directly enhances a Social Media Manager's toolkit by providing hands-on experience with popular AI tools for brainstorming post ideas, drafting engaging captions, and even summarizing trending topics. The emphasis on effective prompting techniques is invaluable for tailoring AI outputs to specific brand voices and audience demographics. Understanding responsible AI use, as covered in the course, is crucial for maintaining authentic engagement and ethical communication online. This course helps you leverage AI as a partner to streamline content creation and strategy, freeing you to focus on community building and creative campaign development.

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Technical Writer

A Technical Writer specializes in translating complex technical information into clear, concise, and accessible documentation for various audiences. This role involves drafting user manuals, reports, and knowledge base articles. "A Beginner’s Guide to Using AI at Work" directly supports a Technical Writer by offering practical skills in using AI tools to summarize intricate data, generate initial drafts of technical explanations, and refine language for clarity and precision. The course's focus on effective prompting techniques is particularly beneficial, enabling you to guide AI to produce accurate and relevant textual outputs, saving significant time in the drafting process. Additionally, understanding the limits and risks of AI, and using it responsibly, as taught in this course, is vital for ensuring the accuracy and ethical integrity of all technical documentation. This helps you dedicate more time to critical analysis and human-centric clarity.

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Marketing Specialist

A Marketing Specialist develops and implements strategies to promote products or services, engaging target audiences through various channels. This includes crafting marketing copy, analyzing campaign performance, and managing communications. "A Beginner’s Guide to Using AI at Work" can significantly enhance a Marketing Specialist's capabilities by teaching practical AI tool usage for tasks like drafting compelling ad copy, generating ideas for campaigns, and summarizing market research reports. The course's focus on effective prompting techniques helps in obtaining precise and creative outputs from AI, aligning with specific marketing objectives. Understanding how to use AI responsibly and ethically, as detailed in the course, is crucial for maintaining brand reputation and customer trust. By incorporating AI as a strategic partner, you can streamline repetitive tasks, allowing more time for strategic thinking and innovative campaign development.

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Executive Assistant

An Executive Assistant provides high-level administrative support, managing schedules, coordinating communications, and preparing reports for senior leadership. This role demands strong organizational skills and efficiency. "A Beginner’s Guide to Using AI at Work" can greatly assist an Executive Assistant in streamlining daily tasks. The course offers hands-on experience with popular AI tools that can be used to draft professional emails, summarize lengthy documents or meeting notes, and organize complex information more efficiently. Learning effective prompting techniques from this course enables you to get accurate and useful results from AI, enhancing productivity and accuracy in administrative functions. By understanding responsible AI use, you can confidently integrate these tools to handle routine tasks, freeing you to focus on strategic support, judgment, and high-value decision-making assistance.

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Research Analyst

A Research Analyst specializes in collecting, interpreting, and presenting data and findings across various fields, from market trends to scientific studies. This role demands meticulous information synthesis and report generation. "A Beginner’s Guide to Using AI at Work" provides valuable skills for a Research Analyst by introducing practical AI tools that can summarize vast amounts of literature, data points, and complex reports. The course's emphasis on effective prompting techniques is particularly beneficial for extracting specific insights and organizing preliminary findings with greater precision and speed. By learning to use AI responsibly and ethically, as taught in the course, you can enhance the efficiency of your research processes while maintaining data integrity. This helps you dedicate more time to critical analysis, hypothesis generation, and the nuanced interpretation that only humans can provide.

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Project Coordinator

A Project Coordinator supports project managers and teams, ensuring tasks are organized, deadlines are met, and communication flows smoothly. This role often involves documentation, scheduling, and progress reporting. "A Beginner’s Guide to Using AI at Work" offers practical skills that can significantly benefit a Project Coordinator. The course provides hands-on experience with AI tools useful for drafting project summaries, generating progress reports, brainstorming solutions to common project roadblocks, and organizing project documentation. The ability to apply effective prompting techniques, as taught in the course, is crucial for obtaining precise and relevant assistance from AI, improving efficiency in project planning and execution. By mastering responsible AI use, you can integrate these tools effectively, allowing you to focus on team collaboration, problem-solving, and managing stakeholder relationships.

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Operations Manager

An Operations Manager oversees the daily activities and processes within an organization, focusing on efficiency, productivity, and resource allocation. This role often involves streamlining workflows, managing logistics, and reporting on performance. "A Beginner’s Guide to Using AI at Work" helps an Operations Manager enhance these critical functions. The course offers practical skills in using AI tools to draft internal communications, summarize performance metrics from various reports, and assist with organizing workflow documentation. Learning effective prompting techniques is particularly beneficial for quickly generating useful insights and information from AI, aiding in strategic planning and problem-solving. By understanding responsible and ethical AI use, you can integrate these technologies to optimize operations, allowing you to focus on leadership, strategic initiatives, and the human elements of team management and development.

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Business Analyst

A Business Analyst acts as a bridge between business needs and technological solutions, gathering requirements, analyzing data, and delivering actionable insights. This role involves extensive documentation, reporting, and communication. "A Beginner’s Guide to Using AI at Work" can significantly enhance a Business Analyst's productivity. The course teaches practical AI tool usage for summarizing complex reports, drafting initial requirement documents, brainstorming solutions, and organizing large sets of information. Applying effective prompting techniques, as covered in the course, is key to refining AI outputs for accuracy and relevance to specific business contexts. By understanding responsible and ethical AI use, you can leverage these tools to streamline repetitive tasks, allowing you to focus on critical thinking, stakeholder engagement, and the nuanced interpretation of business challenges that require human judgment.

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Corporate Trainer

A Corporate Trainer designs and delivers educational programs to employees, focusing on skill development, compliance, and professional growth. This role requires creating engaging content and effectively communicating complex information. "A Beginner’s Guide to Using AI at Work" can help a Corporate Trainer by providing practical skills in using AI tools to draft training content, summarize key concepts for presentations, and organize workshop materials more efficiently. The course's focus on effective prompting techniques is particularly useful for generating relevant examples and scenarios for training modules, ensuring high-quality and tailored content. By learning responsible and ethical AI use, you can confidently integrate these technologies into your instructional design, freeing you to concentrate on dynamic delivery, personalized coaching, and fostering crucial human interactions during training sessions, enhancing overall learning outcomes.

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Learning and Development Specialist

A Learning and Development Specialist designs, implements, and evaluates training programs to enhance employee skills and organizational capabilities. This role involves curriculum development, content creation, and fostering a culture of continuous learning. "A Beginner’s Guide to Using AI at Work" may be useful for a Learning and Development Specialist by offering practical skills in leveraging AI tools to draft course outlines, summarize complex research on learning methodologies, and organize educational content efficiently. The course's emphasis on effective prompting techniques can help in generating engaging learning activities and scenarios. Understanding responsible and ethical AI use, as covered, is vital for creating unbiased and equitable learning materials. This enables you to integrate AI as a partner to streamline content development, allowing you to focus on strategic learning initiatives and fostering human growth and collaboration.

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Sales Professional

A Sales Professional builds relationships, identifies client needs, and presents solutions to drive revenue growth. This role requires compelling communication, efficient lead management, and persuasive presentation skills. "A Beginner’s Guide to Using AI at Work" may be useful for a Sales Professional by providing practical skills in using AI tools to draft personalized client emails, summarize CRM notes for quick recall, and outline sales proposals. The course's emphasis on effective prompting techniques is beneficial for generating targeted marketing messages and responses that resonate with individual clients. Understanding responsible and ethical AI use, as taught in the course, is crucial for maintaining trust and authenticity in client relationships. By leveraging AI as a partner, you can automate routine tasks, allowing more focus on strategic client engagement, negotiation, and building lasting human connections.

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Customer Success Manager

A Customer Success Manager builds and maintains strong relationships with clients, ensuring they achieve value from products or services and fostering long-term loyalty. This role involves proactive communication, problem-solving, and advocating for customer needs. "A Beginner’s Guide to Using AI at Work" may be useful for a Customer Success Manager by providing practical skills in using AI tools to draft personalized client communications, summarize customer feedback and interaction histories, and organize account-specific information for efficient review. The course's focus on effective prompting techniques is beneficial for anticipating client needs and crafting targeted support messages. Understanding responsible and ethical AI use, as taught, is crucial for maintaining trust and confidentiality in client relationships. This helps you integrate AI as a partner, streamlining administrative tasks to enhance human-centric engagement and strategic problem-solving.

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Human Resources Specialist

A Human Resources Specialist manages various aspects of employee relations, recruitment, policy implementation, and benefits administration. This role demands excellent communication, organizational skills, and a strong ethical compass. "A Beginner’s Guide to Using AI at Work" may be useful for a Human Resources Specialist by introducing practical AI tools that can assist in drafting internal communications, summarizing policy documents, and organizing recruitment-related information. The course's focus on effective prompting techniques can help in generating clear and concise HR-related content. Critically, understanding responsible and ethical AI use, as covered in this course, is paramount for handling sensitive employee data and ensuring fairness in HR processes. This helps build a foundation for using AI as a partner to streamline administrative tasks, allowing more focus on employee well-being, strategic talent management, and fostering a positive workplace culture.

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Paralegal

A Paralegal provides essential support in legal environments, assisting attorneys with legal research, document preparation, and case management. This role often involves summarizing complex legal texts, drafting correspondence, and organizing extensive case files. While a Paralegal typically requires an advanced degree or certification, "A Beginner’s Guide to Using AI at Work" may be useful for enhancing productivity. The course introduces practical AI tools that can assist in summarizing lengthy documents and organizing information, streamlining preparatory tasks. Learning effective prompting techniques helps extract specific information and draft preliminary documents with greater accuracy. The course’s emphasis on responsible and ethical AI use provides a framework for integrating these technologies while maintaining confidentiality and professional standards in the legal field, freeing you for higher-value, human-centric legal support.

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Reading list

We've selected 50 books that we think will supplement your learning. Use these to develop background knowledge, enrich your coursework, and gain a deeper understanding of the topics covered in A Beginner’s Guide to Using AI at Work.

Artificial Intelligence

Save

The definitive benchmark textbook of modern artificial intelligence, rigorously unifying search algorithms, probabilistic reasoning, knowledge representation, and machine learning into an elegant, coherent agent-based framework.

Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach

Hardcover

$$$$

Deep Learning

Save

A monumental foundational text establishing the mathematical, algorithmic, and statistical principles of modern deep neural networks, from linear algebra and optimization to convolutional and sequence modeling architectures.

Deep Learning (Adaptive Computation and Machine...

Hardcover

$$$

Deep Learning (Adaptive Computation and Machine...

Kindle Edition

$$$

How to Win Friends and Influence People

Save

A timeless classic on interpersonal skills, this book offers practical advice for building relationships, communicating effectively, and influencing others positively. These skills are fundamental to professional networking, collaboration, and leadership. It remains a highly relevant resource for anyone looking to improve their social skills in a professional context.

A Beginner’s Guide to Using AI at Work

What's inside

Learning objectives

Syllabus

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Reading list

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