Stop paying for AI courses.
These official courses are already free.
No one told you where to learn AI.
So I will.
This is not about some quick YouTube videos.
This is all about the very best courses I could find on AI, for free.
At the end of this newsletter, you will go through:
How to find the best free AI guides on the internet.
How you should spend your money instead (to go deeper).
My personal invitation to meet me & learn from me, live!
1. How to find the best free AI guides.
The internet is (more or less) free. So education is free.
Learning AI is no different.
✦ You want to learn ChatGPT? Well, OpenAI has a free academy.
✦ You want to learn automation? Well, Zapier has a free academy.
✦ You want to prompt Gamma better? Well, Gamma made a prompt library.
If everything is accessible, why do you struggle finding it?
→ Because there is too much information.
So I made this list of the best-of free AI guides.
The goal is simple: let’s master the 20% that matters most.
Master ChatGPT.
I selected my favorite OpenAI Academy resources + my expert guides.
✦ ChatGPT fundamentals. Level: ⭐ Easy.
Learn the (very) basics of ChatGPT in 3 minutes.
Link: https://academy.openai.com/public/clubs/work-users-ynjqu/resources/chatgpt-basics.
✦ ChatGPT for any role. Level: ⭐ Easy.
Quick prompts from the OpenAI Academy.
Link: https://academy.openai.com/public/clubs/work-users-ynjqu/resources/chatgpt-for-any-role.
✦ Prompting class. Level: ⭐⭐ Advanced.
The science behind prompt engineering.
Link: https://academy.openai.com/public/clubs/work-users-ynjqu/resources/prompting.
✦ Set up your ChatGPT. Level: ⭐⭐⭐ Expert.
No one taught you how to (properly) set up ChatGPT.
Link: https://ruben.substack.com/p/settings.
✦ Be rude to ChatGPT. Level: ⭐⭐⭐ Expert.
The do’s and don’t of deep prompt engineering.
Link: https://ruben.substack.com/p/sorry.
✦ How long should a prompt be. Level: ⭐⭐⭐ Expert.
A prompt can’t be too short or too long. Here’s what science says.
Link: https://ruben.substack.com/p/long.
Master Claude.
I love Claude to write with more style than ChatGPT.
✦ Claude basics. Level: ⭐ Easy.
Go through the basics. Directly from Anthropic Learning Hub.
Link: https://anthropic.skilljar.com/ai-fluency-framework-foundations.
✦ Claude to write exactly like you. Level: ⭐⭐ Advanced.
How to teach Claude your own custom writing style.
✦ Claude prompting, advanced techniques. Level: ⭐⭐⭐ Expert.
This one-pager is only for people who are comfortable with prompt engineering.
Link: https://docs.claude.com/en/docs/build-with-claude/prompt-engineering/claude-4-best-practices.
✦ Claude uses cases. Level: ⭐⭐ Advanced.
Copy and paste use cases for you to try. Super useful!
Link: https://claude.com/resources/use-cases
Master Automations.
Everyone wants to “automate”. No one knows how.
✦ Zapier Learn. Build your first zap. Level: ⭐ Easy.
Zapier is the leading automation tool.
Link: https://learn.zapier.com/build-your-first-zap.
✦ Lindy Academy. Lindy 101. Level: ⭐ Easy.
Another automation tool. Reminder: it’s part of the paid-member free perks.
Link: https://www.lindy.ai/academy-lessons/getting-started-101.
✦ ChatGPT Tasks. Level: ⭐⭐ Advanced.
I’m not a big fan of the tasks. But some need an automatic update from ChatGPT.
Link: https://help.openai.com/en/articles/10291617-tasks-in-chatgpt.
Master Gamma.
The best AI to create slides.
✦ Gamma Prompt Library. Level: ⭐⭐ Advanced.
They just released a Gamma prompt library. So much value in here.
Link: https://gamma.app/prompts.
✦ Gamma Inspirations. Level: ⭐⭐ Advanced.
A library of the best Gamma decks. You can copy them too.
Link: https://gamma.app/inspiration.
✦ Replace a consultant. Level: ⭐⭐⭐ Expert.
Written with Gamma’s CEO, Grant Lee. Go from analysis to deck.
Link: https://ruben.substack.com/p/consulting.
Master Gemini.
It’s the ChatGPT of Google. Can do images (Nano-Banana) and video (Veo-3).
✦ Gemini prompting, the complete guide. Level: ⭐⭐⭐ Expert.
Foundational skills for writing effective prompts.
Link: https://services.google.com/fh/files/misc/gemini-for-google-workspace-prompting-guide-101.pdf.
✦ Gemini Context Engineering. Level: ⭐⭐ Advanced.
Context is more important than prompt engineering.
Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JW6Q_wwvBjMz9xzOtTldFfPiF7BrdEeQ/view.
✦ Gemini Deep Research. Level: ⭐⭐ Advanced.
How to perform a deep research through the web / your files.
Link: https://gemini.google/tg/overview/deep-research/.
✦ Gemini Nano-Banana. Level: ⭐⭐ Advanced.
One of the best image model on the market.
Link: https://ruben.substack.com/p/banana.
Bonus: this crazy repo of case studies here. Also free.
✦ Gemini Veo-3. Level: ⭐⭐⭐ Expert.
One of the best video model on the market.
Link: https://cloud.google.com/vertex-ai/generative-ai/docs/video/video-gen-prompt-guide.
Master Midjourney.
My favorite AI. The best at (artsy) images. This blog’s covers are from Midjourney.
✦ Get started with Midjourney. Level: ⭐⭐ Advanced.
The basics. But even the basics aren’t easy.
Link: https://docs.midjourney.com/hc/en-us/articles/33329261836941-Getting-Started-Guide.
✦ Midjourney Prompt Basics. Level: ⭐⭐ Advanced.
Turn words into images.
Link: https://docs.midjourney.com/hc/en-us/articles/32023408776205-Prompt-Basics.
✦ Everything about Midjourney. Level: ⭐⭐⭐ Expert.
Absolutely all of the Midjourney ressources. It would take hours to complete, but that’s a $100,000+ new kind of job. AI designer.
Link: https://docs.midjourney.com/hc/en-us/categories/32013335627533-Documentation.
Master Perplexity.
What I think is (still) the best AI to search things.
✦ Comparing different AI to search. Level: ⭐⭐ Advanced.
I compared all of them. Here’s why Perplexity is better.
Link: https://ruben.substack.com/p/search.
✦ Perplexity Labs guide. Level: ⭐⭐⭐ Expert.
Unknown but advanced feature.
Link: https://www.perplexity.ai/hub/blog/introducing-perplexity-labs.
✦ Perplexity at work. Level: ⭐⭐ Advanced.
Great resource to know the depth of Perplexity.
Link:
Master OpenAI-Sora.
It’s the video model from OpenAI (= ChatGPT).
✦ Sora basics. Level: ⭐⭐ Advanced.
It covers everything to start.
Link: https://academy.openai.com/public/collections/sora-tutorials-2025-03-11.
✦ Sora in-depth guide. Level: ⭐⭐⭐ Expert.
My own complete guide for Sora videos.
Link: https://tathastu-rh.notion.site/SORA-2-PROMPT-GUIDE-2849464bdbf980e2b746f9d26e6f9061.
Master NotebookLM.
One of my favorite AI, from Google, to learn anything.
✦ How to train your AI on YouTube. Level: ⭐⭐⭐ Expert.
Train your own AI on your favorite YouTube videos.
Link: https://ruben.substack.com/p/youtube.
✦ Learn anything, with AI. Level: ⭐⭐ Advanced.
Build your own teacher yourself.
Link: https://ruben.substack.com/p/master.
Master Opus Clip.
The best AI to edit videos.
✦ Learning Center. Level: ⭐⭐ Advanced.
All-in-one guide to Opus Clip, by Opus Clip.
Link: https://www.opus.pro/learning-center.
✦ From YouTube to TikTok videos. Level: ⭐ Easy.
A video step-by-step to go from long to short form.
Master ChatGPT-image.
The part of ChatGPT that makes images.
✦ A carousel of what’s possible. Level: ⭐ Easy.
My quick, 12-page, detailed guide.
Link: https://lnkd.in/dh45EePJ.
✦ The official ChatGPT guide. Level: ⭐ Easy.
+ a cool library of best-of prompts.
Link: https://chatgpt.com/features/image-generation/.
I just realized there is not enough good guide on ChatGPT-image.
Understand AI on a deeper level.
From easy to expert.
✦ 35 years that led to ChatGPT. Level: ⭐ Easy.
A bit of history. It helps understand the world today.
Link:
✦ 16 ChatGPT myths. Level: ⭐ Easy.
No, ChatGPT does not read the entire internet. Debunk every single myth.
Link: https://ruben.substack.com/p/16-chatgpt-myths.
✦ What is an LLM? Level: ⭐⭐ Advanced.
A must-watch to understand the technology behind ChatGPT.
Link:
✦ Machine Learning with Andrew Ng. Level: ⭐⭐⭐ Expert.
Expert only. 99.9% of us don’t need this course.
Link: https://www.coursera.org/specializations/machine-learning-introduction.
✦ Deepdive into LLMs. Level: ⭐⭐⭐ Expert.
By Andrej Karpathy, one of the “creator” of ChatGPT.
Link:
You are new? Access my archive of guides:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pWuMCBVQo1zKcgKltX_BZxAr31KgxmOlp3Vzvmc5Hxc/edit?usp=sharing.
2. How you should spend your money instead.
I made (well) over a million dollar selling AI education.
So why am I writing an entire blog on “don’t spend money to learn”?
Because both can be true:
→ Everything you need is free and valuable. It simply takes time.
→ Spend money for quicker shortcuts.
How to AI has now over 800 paid subscribers.
They have access to (1) a Slack with other pro who want to be their team’s AI person, (2) to my entire blogs, with video walkthroughs and (3) free AI tools worth $200.
You don’t have to pay for it.
Read & implement all of my Linkedin post.
Read & implement all of my newsletters.
You will be ahead of 99.9% of people with AI.
To get there faster, by today, subscribe here:
3. Meet me on an intimate Zoom call.
Speaking of which, I am organizing the first-ever How to AI webinar.
Registration closes tomorrow. Don’t miss out.
Save your spot (500 seats only) by clicking on this link: