Getting Comfortable Using AI

Practical AI Tools

Last updated: March 2026

Course Overview

Welcome to a free course designed for everyone, especially those who think tech might not be for them! Over three sessions, you’ll use AI to plan, design, write, and publish a real website, something that represents you, your work, or a cause you care about.

No technical background required. No prior experience needed. Just bring an idea and a willingness to experiment.

We created this course because we believe people who use AI effectively and wisely will do better for themselves and for the world, and everyone deserves a seat at that table.

What You’ll Learn

In this hands-on course, you’ll use AI to build and publish a real web page from scratch. You’ll learn how to write prompts that get results, how to add your own voice and images, and even how to generate a spoken introduction or background music for your site.

By the end, you’ll have a live link to share, and the confidence to keep building.

Course Format

3 sessions (single day or multiple days) · 5 hours

  1. “I Built a Website Today”: Generate your first site and learn the basics of prompting
  2. “I Made It Mine”: Iterate your site with your real voice, images, and audio
  3. “I Shipped It”: Polish, publish, present, and earn your certificate

What Makes This Course Special

  • No Tech Background Needed: We explain everything in plain language as we go
  • Your Project from Minute One: Everything you learn gets applied immediately to something real
  • Learn by Doing: You’ll be generating, experimenting, and iterating every session
  • Pair Support: You’ll work alongside a partner in the first session; no one gets stuck alone
  • Honest About AI: We talk openly about what AI does well and where it falls short
  • Real Results: You leave with a published website and a certificate

Who This Course Is For

  • Anyone curious about AI but unsure where to start
  • People who have a project idea and want help bringing it to life
  • Anyone who’s thought “tech isn’t really for me”: this course was made for you
  • People who want practical skills, not just theory
  • Creative people, community organizers, small business owners, students, everyone

If you can describe what you want to build, you can do this.

Before Session 1

To make the most of the course, please do these things before the first session:

  1. Think of your project. What would you like a simple web page for? A personal portfolio, a community resource, a small business, a hobby or passion project; anything works. You don’t need a finished idea, just a starting point.

  2. Gather a few materials. Find 2–3 photos you’d like to use and write a short description of yourself or your work.

  3. Create free accounts for the tools we’ll use:

  4. Optional but helpful: Have your phone nearby so you can preview your site on mobile.

Session 1: “I Built a Website Today”

Goal: Every student generates a real website.

Core Learning

  • Key AI terms in plain English, ex: AI, machine learning, generative AI, prompts.
  • How AI website generation actually works (no mystery, no magic)
  • How to write a brief in Claude that sets AI up to do good work
  • What AI consistently gets right (and what it tends to miss)
  • The 3 prompt techniques that change your results right away:
    • Specificity: the more specific your prompt, the more useful the output
    • Tone: describing the feeling you want shapes everything
    • Structure: you can ask for exactly the layout you want

Exercises

  1. AI Foundations

    • Quick orientation to the terms you’ll hear all session
    • Share what you’ve already heard about AI; good, bad, or confusing

  2. Live Demo & Walkthrough

    • Watch the instructor write a prompt to generate a site in Google AI Studio
    • See a real refinement cycle: what worked and what got weird

  3. Pair Build: Site #1

    • Work with a partner using a starter prompt template
    • Each person generates their own site, for a practice persona or your real project
    • Make at least one refinement through chat

  4. Group Debrief

    • Share what surprised you from your first generation
    • Discuss what changed when you applied specificity, tone, or structure

Milestones

✓ Generate your first AI-built website

✓ Make at least one refinement through chat

✓ Understand why specificity and tone change your results


Session 2: “I Made It Mine”

Goal: Take your AI-generated site and turn it into something genuinely yours, with your voice, your images, and even your own spoken introduction or background music.

Core Learning

  • How to go from a generic AI output to something that sounds and looks like you
  • How to use Gemini to generate custom images for your site
  • How to use Cloudinary to store and serve images, voice, and music in your site
  • How to record a short spoken introduction using Gemini TTS
  • How to generate background music that matches your site’s mood

Exercises

  1. Before/After Demo

    • Instructor makes live refinements to the Session 1 site, including generating a spoken introduction

  2. Cloudinary Setup

    • Create your free Cloudinary account (the class asset library)
    • Learn the two actions you’ll use all session: upload a file and copy its URL
    • That URL is what gets pasted into your site; images, voice intros, and music all work the same way

  3. 7 Refinements Workshop: work through these on your real project:

    • Layout: reorganize sections to match your content
    • Visual style: choose colors and typography that feel like you
    • Copy & voice: rewrite key sections to sound like you
    • Missing pieces: add any sections your site needs
    • Images: generate custom images using Gemini, upload to Cloudinary, add the links to your site
    • Voice intro: record a spoken introduction using Gemini TTS, upload to Cloudinary, embed it on your site
    • Music: generate a short ambient track using Gemini, upload to Cloudinary, embed it on your site

  4. Lightning Gallery

    • Everyone shares their link in the shared class document
    • Class votes on favorites: best hero, most improved, best audio moment

Milestones

✓ Complete all 7 refinements on your real project

✓ Add at least one custom AI-generated image via Cloudinary

✓ Record a voice introduction or generate a music track (both encouraged!)

✓ Share your site in the group gallery


Session 3: “I Shipped It”

Goal: Polish your site, publish it, present it, and earn your certificate.

Core Learning

  • Quick mobile fixes and final polish techniques
  • The Google AI Studio publishing flow, walked through step by step
  • What AI is genuinely good at, and what still needs a human
  • Where to go next after the course

Exercises

  1. Final Polish

    • Each student picks their top 2 remaining fixes and implements them

  2. Publishing Together

    • Walk through the Google AI Studio publishing flow as a group
    • Everyone shares their live link (or a screenshot if publishing hits a snag; the work is real either way)

  3. Demo

    • Each student takes 2–3 minutes to show their live site and share key learnings
    • Other students provide constructive feedback
    • Complete certification requirements and claim digital credentials

Milestones

✓ Publish your site or produce a shareable portfolio screenshot

✓ Present your work during Demo Day

✓ Earn your Certificate of Completion and digital badge


Hardware Requirements

Each student needs:

  • A tablet, laptop, or desktop (Windows, Mac, or Chromebook) with a modern browser
  • Stable internet connection; generation tools are bandwidth-intensive
  • A microphone (built-in is fine) for voice narration in Session 2
  • A phone (optional but recommended) for mobile previewing in Session 3

Not required: Any software installation, coding environment, or prior accounts (accounts are created during pre-work)

Tools We’ll Use

All tools used in this course have free tiers. Create accounts before Session 1.

  1. Website generation: Google AI Studio (alternatives: Lovable, v0)
  2. AI assistant & writing: Claude (alternative: ChatGPT)
  3. Image generation: Gemini (alternative: ChatGPT)
  4. Asset storage & hosting: Cloudinary
  5. Voice narration: Gemini TTS (alternative: ElevenLabs)
  6. Music generation: Gemini (alternative: Suno)
  7. Video (bonus, if time): Kling AI (alternative: Veo 3)

Digital Credentials & Certification

Certificate of Completion

Students who complete all three sessions and publish their site earn an official “Getting Comfortable Using AI Certificate” that includes:

  • Verification: QR code linking to your verified completion record
  • Date & Cohort: Official completion date and course identifier
  • Digital Format: PDF certificate for professional portfolios and resumes
  • Sharing: Optimized for LinkedIn and personal websites

Certification Requirements

To earn the certificate and digital badge, you must:

✅ Attend & Participate: Complete all 3 sessions with active engagement

✅ Iterate Your Project: Complete at least 7 chat refinements, including at least one audio output

✅ Submit Your Work: Share a published site link or screenshot portfolio

✅ Present: Show your work during the Demo in Session 3

✅ Give Feedback: Participate in the peer gallery during Session 2

How to Claim Your Credentials

  1. Complete all requirements above across the three sessions
  2. Instructor reviews and approves your submission (typically within 72 hours)
  3. Digital certificate and badge delivered to your email
  4. Instructions included for adding to LinkedIn and personal websites

What’s Next After the Course

After completing the course, you’ll have the foundation to keep going. A few directions to explore:

  • More voice customization: ElevenLabs offers deeper control over AI voices
  • More music styles: Suno lets you generate songs with lyrics and full arrangements
  • Video: Kling AI and Veo 3 for short background or intro clips
  • More complex sites: Lovable or v0 for richer interactivity and app-style features

Getting Comfortable Using AI Registration

Starts: April 21, 2026