Hey, it's Cindy 🌱 You commented CERTS, so here are all five free AI certificates, with a direct link to each one.
btw the waitlist for AI System Club is now open! If you're keen on using AI to automate your content, video editing, job search, business or build AI agents, feel free to sign up (only if you want to hehe). Ps. the waitlist gets first dibs:)
at a glance
The five, in order
1. Google Introduction to Generative AI · 45 minutes · free · badge
2. Anthropic Academy AI Fluency: Framework and Foundations · free · certificate of completion
3. Cisco Introduction to Modern AI · about 6 hours · free · badge
5. University of Helsinki Elements of AI · 6 chapters · free · certificate
Go in this order. The first two are short and get you using AI well. Cisco gets your hands on real chatbots. IBM and Elements of AI go wider and deeper once you're comfortable.
1 · start here
Google: Introduction to Generative AI
A 45-minute introduction on Google Skills. You learn what generative AI is, how it works, how it's different from traditional machine learning, and which Google tools use it. You earn a badge when you finish.
👤 Sign in with a Google account and click to enrol.
✅ Finish the video and the quiz to get the badge on your profile.
2 · use AI well
Anthropic Academy: AI Fluency
A free course from Anthropic (the company behind Claude), built with professors Rick Dakan and Joseph Feller. It teaches four skills they call the 4Ds:
Delegation: deciding what to hand over to AI and what to keep.
Description: explaining the task clearly so you get what you want.
👤 Make a free Anthropic Academy account and register.
✅ Finish every lesson to get the certificate of completion.
3 · the hands-on one
Cisco: Introduction to Modern AI
Free, beginner level, about 6 hours, on Cisco Networking Academy. You learn how chatbots work, then practise writing prompts in real tools: the course uses more than ten chatbots, including ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and NotebookLM. You get a Cisco digital badge at the end.
👤 Click Get started and make a free NetAcad account.
✍️ Do the prompt practice as you go, in whichever chatbot you already use.
✅ Pass the final check to claim the badge.
4 · go wider
IBM SkillsBuild: Artificial Intelligence Fundamentals
Free, and it covers a lot of ground: machine learning, neural networks, deep learning, computer vision, natural language processing, chatbots and AI ethics. IBM lists it as intermediate, so it's a good one after the first three. You pass graded quizzes, practice simulations and a final assessment for a Credly badge.
✅ Pass the quizzes and the final assessment, then accept the badge in Credly.
5 · the ideas underneath
Elements of AI, University of Helsinki
Free, no coding needed. Six chapters: what AI is, how AI solves problems, real-world AI, machine learning, neural networks, and what AI means for society. The certificate for this introduction course is free.
🔗 Open the course.elementsofai.com and sign up for Introduction to AI.
✍️ Do the exercises in each chapter.
👥 Do your peer reviews. You need to review other people's answers on exercises 4, 15, 23, 24 and 25. Their FAQ says this is the most common reason people miss the certificate.
Only part 1 is free to certify. The follow-up course, Building AI, has a paid certificate. The Introduction to AI certificate is free.
then build something
Turn what you learned into a portfolio piece
Pick one course, finish it, then build one small thing with what you learned. Paste this into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini to plan it.
💡 portfolio project prompt
I just finished [course name]. The main things I learned were [2 or 3 things from the course].
I work as [your job, or the job you want]. Suggest three small projects I could build in one weekend that use what I learned and would make sense in my portfolio. For each one, tell me:
1. What it does, in one sentence.
2. Which free AI tools I'd use.
3. The exact steps, in order.
4. How to show it in my portfolio (a screenshot, a short write-up, or a before and after).
Keep it beginner friendly and ask me questions if you need more detail.
Add the badge and the build together. On LinkedIn, put the certificate under Licences and certifications, then add the project under Projects or Featured, so people can see what you can actually do with it.