7 Free Google AI Courses to Learn LLMs and Machine Learning Fast

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping the global job market at a rapid pace. While the fear of job losses due to automation is very real, professionals still have the opportunity to stay ahead by upgrading their skill sets. As companies across all sectors continue to embrace AI, keeping up with these technological changes has become essential.

The tech landscape is going through a major transformation, with businesses of all sizes integrating AI into their operations. To thrive in this evolving environment, upskilling is not just an option—it’s a necessity. While AI might be automating some roles, it’s also giving rise to entirely new career paths.

If you're ready to future-proof your career, the best place to begin is online. There are countless free courses available, especially in the field of AI. Below is a curated list of top free AI courses by Google that can enhance your knowledge and upgrade your resume.

1. Introduction to Large Language Models (LLMs)

This foundational course introduces you to Large Language Models (LLMs)—AI systems trained on massive datasets to generate human-like text. While tools like ChatGPT are widely used, few understand the underlying mechanics. This course explains LLMs, their real-world applications, and how techniques like prompt tuning can optimize their performance. You'll also explore Google tools for building your own generative AI apps.

2. Introduction to Image Generation

Curious about how AI can generate realistic images? This course offers a deep dive into diffusion models, which form the backbone of modern AI image generation tools. Learn the theory behind these models and how to train and deploy them on Vertex AI, Google’s ML and AI development platform. A completion badge is included, which can add value to your professional profile.

3. Encoder-Decoder Architecture

In just 30 minutes, this course breaks down the encoder-decoder framework, a critical structure used for tasks like machine translation, text summarization, and question answering. You'll gain an understanding of how these models are trained and deployed. Practical exercises using TensorFlow—Google’s open-source deep learning platform—are included. A shareable badge is provided upon course completion.

4. Introduction to Generative AI

Perfect for beginners, this course explains the basics of generative AI, how it differs from traditional ML, and where it’s being applied. It also covers Google tools for developing your own Gen AI projects. The course takes about 45 minutes and offers a badge that you can showcase on your online profiles or resumes.

5. Attention Mechanism

This 45-minute course delves into the attention mechanism, a concept in deep learning that enables AI models to focus on the most relevant parts of an input. You'll learn how this technique enhances performance in tasks like question answering, summarization, and translation. Completing the course earns you a shareable badge.

6. Transformer Models and BERT

Explore BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) and understand how transformer models and self-attention mechanisms revolutionized natural language processing. This course teaches you how to use BERT for various tasks such as text classification and natural language interfaces. It takes around 45 minutes and includes a skills badge.

7. Create Image Captioning Models

This course walks you through building an image captioning model using deep learning. You'll explore the components like encoders and decoders, and learn how to train and evaluate your own models. By the end of this 30-minute course, you’ll be able to generate image captions using your own AI model. A badge is awarded after completion. These courses combine short videos and quizzes to deliver a quick but comprehensive learning experience. While most materials, including documents and videos, are freely accessible, certain lab components may require a paid subscription or credits. To earn the official badge for any course, you must complete all mandatory activities.