Essential Concepts of AI

Harness the power of AI.

Artificial intelligence is shaping industries, businesses, and daily life. Essential Concepts of AI is a non-credit badged course designed to help you understand the fundamentals of AI, its societal impact, and its applications in real-world contexts. You’ll gain a broad overview of AI technologies while exploring how to apply them responsibly, ethically, and strategically.

Adapted from Northeastern’s Online Graduate Certificate in AI Applications, this course introduces you to AI tools and frameworks, responsible AI principles, human-centered design approaches, and the role of AI in shaping competitive business strategies. By the end of the course, you’ll be prepared to thoughtfully contribute to AI initiatives in your profession, with a clear understanding of how AI can be both powerful and responsible.

Upon completion of the course, you’ll receive the digital badge: Essential Concepts of AI.

This non-credit program is not eligible for NU academic or continuing education credit, and is not stackable into any credit-bearing program.

What you'll learn:

By completing this course, you'll be able to:

• Understand new AI advancements — Categorize innovations in AI and assess their broader societal impact.

• Apply AI to real-world problems — Use AI tools on specific datasets and interpret results within your domain.

• Recognize responsible AI principles — Distinguish core concepts including ethics, governance, compliance, and regulatory considerations.

• Analyze AI in business strategy — Explore how AI empowers competitive advantage and decision-making.

• Integrate AI into organizational goals — Determine how AI aligns with cost, differentiation, and strategic approaches.

• Adopt human-centered design approaches — Examine how integrating human perspectives improves AI design, development, and deployment.

• Tailor AI solutions to human needs — Consider how responsible AI ensures effectiveness while staying aligned with human values.