Writing Prompts - The Best Places to Learn Right Now
Based on what I actually learned (and what I wish I'd known sooner)
If you work for any business, you can argue that learning to write effective prompts is the number 1 skill you should have already learned.
Prompt engineering is the foundation for using generative AI, to get outputs you can actually use in your projects.
I’ve spent the last year (or so) learning how to use GenAI effectively, and through that I’ve taken a number of courses that have stood out amongst the sea of fakers and side-hustlers that seem to be selling their own AI snake oil.
Today, I’m sharing those with you.
OpenAI University
Free
Great for total beginners.
Through a series of short videos, you’ll learn the basics before moving on to more advanced techniques, setting up ChatGPT projects and making your own GPTs.
As well as a bunch of other use cases.
They add content regularly, and you can sign up to events along with joining a community.
Specifically - Introduction to Prompt Engineering
Coursera - Google Prompt Engineering Essentials
Paid
Moving on to a paid course - you’ll need a Coursera subscription, but this is totally worth it.
This specialisation features 4 courses of about 6 hours total. Although I did it in around 5 and half.
You’ll go right from beginner through more advanced prompting and practical courses on data analysis, presentations and using GenAI for more creative work. So great if you work in an agency like I do.
The instructors are engaging, and you’ll get lots of free templates and outputs you can keep.
Anthropic's Prompt Engineering Interactive Tutorial
Free (except for API credits)
Moving up a few notches. Take this when you want to get under the hood of Anthropic’s Claude specifically.
It features 9 chapters and will take you from beginner to advanced, all in one place.
You’ll also learn about few-shot prompting, chain-of-thought reasoning, and role prompting through real examples.
For me, one of the best parts is about avoiding hallucinations - when a GenAI tool is giving you the wrong information!
Section AI
Paid
Not a single course, but a company that provides high quality training you can take online. Either ad-hoc or with a yearly subscription to their service.
Great if your company wants to open their piggy-bank.
So far, I have taken the AI crash course and Making Agents with Relay and N8N.
The workshops are live, interactive, have high quality course material and if you are lucky enough to get a full membership then I’m pretty sure you could become an AI guru!
One bi-product of taking the courses is that you get the slides and the recording, so if (like me) you need to train other people on AI then there is some great, reusable material to take back to the office.
My Recommendations
Start with OpenAI Academy - it’s free, the videos won’t take up much time, and you’ll increase your skills - fast.
If you want to go deeper, Anthropic's interactive tutorial will be Two hours well spent, and you'll immediately get better results from Claude and understand some of the more technical aspects of LLMs.
The Coursera Prompt Engineering Specialisation gives you the most bang for your £££ in terms of practical, agency-relevant skills. It’s also Google, which gives you the feeling you are doing something a little bit special.
Lastly, Section AI for if your company wants to splash out and give you some of the highest quality workshops, content and learning material available. It’s like having your own team of AI trainers on tap.
Now, go and get your hands-dirty and crack on…