This four-module course gives you a clear, practical foundation in Generative AI from what it is and where it’s used, to how modern models work and how to apply them responsibly. You’ll start with the big picture: GenAI capabilities across text, image, audio, and video, plus real-world industry applications. Then you’ll dive into the science behind today’s Large Language Models: text representation (tokenization, embeddings), and the Transformer architecture (positional encoding, self-attention, encoder/decoder flow).



Introduction to Generative AI: Concepts and Techniques


Instructors: Amreen Anbar
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16 assignments
November 2025
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There are 4 modules in this course
In the first week of the course, we begin with the most fundamental question: What is Generative AI? From there, we explore the scope of Gen-AI projects and examine the most popular applications for various tasks. Learners will discover how Gen-AI is transforming industries and driving change in sectors such as healthcare, business, and finance. We then provide a high-level overview of the science behind these technologies, preparing participants for more technical concepts.
What's included
20 videos4 assignments
This module grounds learners in Natural Language Processing from its roots to the present. You’ll examine how language is represented and why these steps matter. Building on that foundation, the module demystifies the Transformer, covering positional encoding, self-attention, and multi-head attention. By the end, you’ll understand the end-to-end mechanics that power today’s chatbots.
What's included
18 videos4 assignments
This module explores how you can turn your ideas into GenAI applications and explores the open-source vs. proprietary model ecosystem. You will get hands-on experience by making API calls to cloud models and running open-source models locally with Ollama. Finally, you will master the complete reliability toolkit, moving from advanced prompt engineering to Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) and fine-tuning.
What's included
14 videos2 readings4 assignments1 discussion prompt
Module 4 directly addresses the growing concerns around using Gen AI by focusing on Generative AI's challenges and the principles of Responsible AI. We will investigate critical limitations like bias and hallucinations and explore their mitigations. This module also covers complex issues surrounding intellectual property, data privacy, and ownership, as well as the role of Explainable AI (XAI) in building secure and trustworthy systems.
What's included
17 videos4 assignments
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