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Prompt engineering has become a critical skill in the age of artificial intelligence (AI), empowering users to create clear and effective instructions for generating accurate outputs. To meet growing demand, several online platforms are offering free online prompt engineering courses that teach you how to unlock the full potential of AI tools. Best Free Online Prompt Engineering Courses  . ChatGPT for Everyone by OpenAI and Learn Prompting This 1-hour beginner-level course, led by Sander Schulhoff and Shyamal Anadkat, introduces the fundamentals of ChatGPT and generative AI. It explains how ChatGPT works, its diverse applications, and techniques for crafting effective prompts. The syllabus covers using ChatGPT as a personal assistant, enhancing productivity, and creating content.  Participants will learn prompt-writing strategies, including role assignment while understanding ethical considerations and ChatGPT's limitations. Real-world case studies further enhance the learning experience. The course is free, self-paced, and offers a certificate of completion through Learn Prompting Plus to showcase your skills. Read more: 10 Best Free AI Image Generators in 2025 Course Link: https://learnprompting.org/courses/chatgpt-for-everyone Free Prompt Engineering Course by Simplilearn This 1-hour beginner-level course offers a free and comprehensive introduction to AI, NLP, and prompt engineering. It covers the fundamentals of AI and NLP, the concept and applications of prompt engineering, types of prompts, and techniques for creating effective and engaging prompts.  Taught by industry experts, the course combines theory with practical examples, real-world case studies, and hands-on exercises to enhance learning. Upon completion, participants receive a certificate, which can be shared on LinkedIn. Perfect for AIML engineers, chatbot developers, and data scientists, this course equips learners to design and optimize prompts for conversational AI systems. Read more: 12 Most In-Demand Tech Skills for 2025: Stay Ahead in the Job Market Course Link: https://www.simplilearn.com/prompt-engineering-free-course-skillup Prompt Engineering for Everyone by IBM Led by Antonio Cangiano, IBM’s AI specialist, this 5-hour beginner-level course offers a comprehensive introduction to prompt engineering. It uses notes, audio recordings, and hands-on labs to teach the art of crafting compelling prompts. The course covers foundational techniques, such as Persona and Interview Patterns, and advanced approaches like Chain-of-Thought and Tree-of-Thought prompting.  Learners will also explore bias mitigation, verbosity control, and IBM's Watsonx Prompt Lab. An optional final project allows participants to apply their knowledge. This free course, offering a certificate, is perfect for professionals aiming to revolutionize their interactions with AI systems. Course Link: https://community.ibm.com/community/user/watsonx/blogs/nickolus-plowden/2023/10/15/learn-to-build-with-ai-series Read more: 10 Best Free AI Infographic Generators for 2025: Transform Ideas into Stunning Visuals Essentials of Prompt Engineering by Coursera This 1-hour beginner-level course by Amazon Web Services introduces the foundational concepts of prompt engineering. It covers crafting, refining, and optimizing prompts, with techniques such as zero-shot, few-shot, and chain-of-thought prompting. Participants will also learn to identify and mitigate potential risks in prompt engineering.  A hands-on assignment allows learners to apply the skills acquired. Offered via a free trial with an optional $49/month subscription, the course includes a certificate upon completion. Updated in July 2024, this course is ideal for those interested in AI/ML and generative AI, providing in-demand skills for a competitive edge. Course Link: https://www.coursera.org/learn/essentials-of-prompt-engineering Advanced Prompt Engineering by Learn Prompting Designed for intermediate to advanced learners, this 1-week course led by Sander Schulhoff provides in-depth training on advanced prompt engineering techniques. It explores concepts like in-context learning, chain-of-thought (CoT) prompting, problem decomposition, and self-criticism methods to craft effective prompts for complex AI applications.  Read more: How to Detect an AI-generated Image Learners will enhance their understanding of AI tools like ChatGPT, DALL·E 3, GPT 3.5, and GPT 4. Taught by a renowned AI expert, the course combines theory with practical strategies, offering a certificate upon completion. Available with a free trial, access to all paid courses is $39/month via Learn Prompting Plus. Course Link: https://learnprompting.org/courses/advanced-prompt-engineering Prompt Engineering Specialization by Vanderbilt University on Coursera Led by Dr. Jules White, this beginner to intermediate-level specialization spans 1 month (10 hours/week) and teaches participants to use generative AI for automation, productivity, and intelligence augmentation. The course includes three modules: composing queries for ChatGPT, advanced data analysis, and trusted generative AI.  Participants will gain hands-on experience in crafting prompts, automating tasks, and applying AI tools to real-world scenarios like social media content creation, data visualization from Excel, and PDF information extraction. The course is free with a trial and offers a certificate from Vanderbilt University upon completion. Read more: Best Text-to-Speech Software  Course Link: https://www.coursera.org/specializations/prompt-engineering Prompt Engineering and Advanced ChatGPT on edX The Advanced ChatGPT course is an intermediate-level program designed to teach advanced techniques for using ChatGPT effectively. Spanning one week with 1-2 hours of learning per week, the course covers critical areas such as advanced prompting methods to generate accurate and engaging responses.  Learners explore how ChatGPT can be applied across various industries like healthcare, finance, education, and customer service. The course also addresses the integration of ChatGPT with tools like NLP and ML for developing sophisticated chatbot applications. Additionally, it discusses ChatGPT's limitations and how to mitigate them to build more robust applications. This self-paced course is free with limited access, but a certificate can be earned for $40. Course Link: https://www.edx.org/learn/computer-programming/edx-advanced-chatgpt Read more: Free Online AI Courses by Harvard University from Basic to Advanced Levels Takeaways These free online prompt engineering courses offer excellent opportunities to master AI tools like ChatGPT and enhance your skills in crafting effective prompts. With courses catering to different levels, from beginners to advanced learners, they provide valuable insights, hands-on exercises, and certification options to help you excel in AI applications and improve productivity in various industries.

The Treasury Department of US on Thursday slapped six Russian technology companies with sanctions for supporting Kremlin intelligence agencies engaged in “dangerous and disruptive cyber attacks.” But only one of them stands out for its international footprint and partnerships with such IT heavyweights as Microsoft and IBM. That company, Positive Technologies, claims more than 2,000 customers in 30 countries, including major European banks Societe Generale and ING, as well as Samsung, SK Telecom of South Korea and BT, the British telecommunications giant. Also read: Microsoft server hack has victims hustling to stop intruders Its clients also include the FSB, a successor to the KGB that “cultivates and co-opts criminal hackers” who carry out ransomware and phishing attacks, the Treasury Department said. The U.S. said big conventions hosted by Positive Technologies are “used as recruiting events” by the FSB and the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence agency. GRU agents are the swashbucklers of Russian intelligence. The agency stands accused of spearheading the hack-and-leak operation that interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election to favor Donald Trump. Its agents also conducted the most damaging cyberattack on record, the runaway 2017 NotPetya virus that did more than $10 billion in global damage, its victims including the shipping giant Maersk and pharmaceutical company Merck. The CEO of the software industry-supported Internet Research Institute in Moscow, Karen Kazaryan, said he was not familiar with most of the Russian IT companies sanctioned on Thursday. But Positive Tech is well-known in the industry for its annual Hack Days conference, which is scheduled for May 20-21 at a Moscow hotel. Also read: Microsoft buying speech recognition firm Nuance in $16B deal Former CIA analyst Michael van Landingham applauded the naming and sanctioning of Russian IT companies known to have aided and abetted malign government activity. “Naming specific companies can create incentives for educated and skilled Russians who might be able to obtain jobs elsewhere where they don’t support Russian state hacking,” he said. Positive Tech’s specialty is identifying vulnerabilities in popular software such as Microsoft’s Windows operating system. The world’s intelligence agencies regularly lean on companies like it not to disclose potent vulnerabilities publicly when they find them but to instead quietly share them for hacking adversaries’ networks. The U.S. did not accuse Positive Technologies of any such behavior and the Treasury Department declined to answer questions about the company’s activities beyond a press release.

Shanghai, Oct 27 (Xinhua/UNB) -- IBM China signed an agreement with Shanghai Zhangjiang Group on Friday to build the first Watson Build Artificial Intelligence (AI) Innovation Center in China through a three-year partnership, in a bid to cultivate AI talent and accelerate AI applications.