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AI for Beginners

A free 12-week, 24-lesson course from Microsoft that teaches the basics of artificial intelligence.

What it does

AI for Beginners is a free curriculum with lessons, quizzes and hands-on labs. It's spread over 12 weeks and 24 lessons.

It covers older "symbolic" approaches to AI, neural networks and deep learning, the techniques behind modern AI, and how computers work with images and text. It also touches on genetic algorithms, multi-agent systems and the ethics of AI. Code examples use the popular TensorFlow and PyTorch tools.

It doesn't cover business uses of AI, classic machine learning or chatbots in depth, and points to other Microsoft courses for those. The lessons are translated into many languages.

Who it's for

Beginners, students and teachers who want a structured introduction to how AI works.

Can I use it without coding?

Yes. You can read the lessons on GitHub. The labs need some Python setup. New to this? Start here.

Can I run it?

Cost
FreeNothing to pay or sign up for.
Runs on
Web browser, Mac, Windows, Linux
Computer
An ordinary computer is fine
API key
Not needed

Try it

  1. Open the course setup lesson to prepare your learning environment.
  2. Work through the 24 lessons in order, with their quizzes and labs.
  3. Run the lab notebooks online through Binder, or download a copy to your computer.

Using Claude Code, Cursor or another AI coding assistant? Paste the prompt and it will walk you through the setup.New to this?

Before you install

  • Only download from the official GitHub page. Copies with similar names exist for many popular projects.
  • License (MIT): Very permissive: free to use, change and share, including for business.
  • More on staying safe

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