11 Best Artificial Intelligence Courses & Certifications in 2023

Artificial intelligence (AI) has become nearly inescapable in the workplace — even for those in non-tech positions.

AI can collect data, recognize patterns and use the information collected to make decisions, replicate human tasks and solve problems. The tech can even exceed human abilities in many ways, especially when it comes to detecting patterns and insights in data.

According to a 2023 Goldman Sachs report, as many as 300 million jobs could be impacted by AI and automation. But AI won’t replace human workers entirely — it will only change the way we work and the skills we need to thrive. 

How AI Is Changing the Job Market

Companies are interested in how AI can improve operations and boost revenue. But there’s also been a spike in the number of job seekers interested in positions using or related to AI.

“On Indeed, we’ve seen searches for AI related jobs have gone up 8,200% since March of 2021,” said Trey Causey, head of AI ethics at Indeed. In that same time period, the number of job postings related to AI increased by 29.8%.

“This is a very significant increase in the past two years, especially on the job seeker side,” Causey explained. “The increase demonstrates that job seekers are interested in this field and building the skills to succeed in it.”

Related Article: Will AI Chatbots Make Coders Obsolete?

Top AI Skills That Employers Want

Employers want to take advantage of all that artificial intelligence has to offer. But to do so, they need employees who know their way around the tech.

Let’s take a look at some of the most requested skills for jobs related to AI, according to data from job board Dice.

Top AI Skills

The AI skills requested in newly active US job postings, according to data from Dice, include:

• Machine learning (ML)
• Artificial intelligence
• Cloud computing
• Natural language processing (NLP)
• Deep learning

Combined, the request for these skills in job postings has increased by 15% in April 2023 compared to the previous month.

Top General AI Skills

The general AI skills requested in newly active US job postings include:

• Computer science
• Data analysis
• Mathematics
• Data science
• Predictive analytics

Top Soft AI Skills

The AI soft skills requested in newly active US job postings include:

• Problem-solving
• Critical thinking

Combined, the request for these AI soft skills in job postings has increased by 20% in April 2023 compared to March 2023.

11 Best Artificial Intelligence Courses You Can Start Today

Are you ready to put your human intelligence to the test? The artificial intelligence courses and certificates below will provide the resources you need to build the AI skills that employers want. 

Offered by: DeepLearning.AI

Price: $49/month (approx. 10 hours to complete)

If you don’t have a tech-leaning job, you might not know where to start when it comes to AI courses. That’s where this self-paced class comes in. It takes around 10 hours to complete and focuses on AI knowledge that anyone can use. Instruction is led by Andrew Ng, founder of DeepLearning.AI and co-founder of Coursera.

In this course, students will learn:

• Basic knowledge like AI terminology
• AI concepts and strategy
• The workflow of machine learning projects
• The workflow of data science projects

Upon completion of the course, learners earn a shareable certificate.

Offered by: Duke University

Price: $49/month (approx. four months to complete)

This self-paced specialization is comprised of four courses, which learners can complete in around four months. In that time, learners will cover the standards of good reasoning and get the tools needed to improve critical thinking skills. 

Throughout the four courses, you’ll discover:

• The essential parts of an argument, and how to identify gaps 
• How to determine if an argument is deductively valid
• How to reason inductively 
• How to recognize and avoid fallacies 

Upon completion of the course, which includes a grade quiz, students will earn a shareable certificate. 

Offered by: Harvard University

Price: $348 (currently on sale for $313.20)

This self-paced Harvard certificate includes two courses, which it claims learners can finish in five months. It’s taught by Doug Lloyd and Brian Yu, senior preceptors in computer science, and David Malan, Gordon McKay professor of the practice of computer science.

With this certificate, you’ll learn about:

• Computer science & computer programming
• Machine learning
• Reinforcement learning
• How to design intelligent systems
• How to use AI in Python programs

Related Article: ChatGPT Is Already Replacing Humans in the Workplace

Offered by: Google

Price: Free

Google’s “fast-paced” introduction to machine learning includes 15 hours of content — 25 lessons, more than 30 exercises, lectures from researchers, real-world case studies and more.

In this intro to machine learning course, you’ll learn:

• The difference between machine learning algorithms and traditional programming
• How gradient descents work
• How to present data so that a program can learn from it
• What loss is and how to measure it
• How to build deep neural networks

Offered by: Harvard University

Price: Free (or $199 for verified certificate)

This seven-week, self-paced course explores the concepts and algorithms at the foundation of artificial intelligence, covering the rise of technologies like handwriting recognition, machine translation, game-playing engines and more.

Topics covered in this artificial intelligence course include:

• Natural language processing
• Machine learning
• Neural networks
• Graph search algorithms
• Probability theory

Offered by: Google

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Price: $498 (currently on sale for $448.20)

Another on the list of self-paced artificial intelligence courses, this professional certificate program promises to teach learners “what AI really is” from Google’s own experts. It includes two courses and takes approximately three months to complete.

Those who sign up for the certificate program will learn:

• How machine learning, artificial intelligence and deep learning all fit together
• Ways to consume existing machine learning models
• How to write custom machine learning models from scratch
• How to use industry-standard pre-made models
• How to convert Python models to TensorFlow.js format

Offered by: Stanford University & DeepLearning.AI

Price: $49/month (approx. 3 months to complete)

This self-paced online certificate program takes approximately three months to complete and includes three separate courses:

• Supervised Machine Learning: Regression and Classification
• Advanced Learning Algorithms
• Unsupervised Learning, Recommenders, Reinforcement Learning

Students will learn how to build machine learning models, build and train neural networks with TensorFlow, apply best practices to machine learning development and much more. The specialization culminates with a hands-on project students must successfully complete to earn their certificate.

Offered by: IBM

Price: $49/month (approx. 8 months to complete)

This intermediate-level certificate offered by IBM is self-paced and takes approximately eight months to complete. It consists of six courses, which will teach prospective AI engineers about:

• Building deep learning models and neural networks
• Machine learning algorithms like classification, regression, clustering, etc.
• How to implement supervised and unsupervised machine learning models
• How to deploy machine learning algorithms and pipelines

The last course includes an AI capstone project with deep learning, where students will need to apply their deep learning knowledge to a real-world problem. Once all six courses are complete, learners get a professional certificate they can add to their LinkedIn profile.

Offered by: The University of Edinburgh

Cost: Free (or $49 for verified certificate)

This course is archived, meaning learners can complete modules at their own pace. It takes approximately seven weeks to complete and is ideal for those interested in intermediate to advanced artificial intelligence technology.

Students will learn:

• How to understand and articulate ethical, social and other data lifecycle issues
• How to identify current ethical issues in data science and industry
• How to apply critical judgment to moral problems with no clear solutions
• How to evaluate ethical issues you face in professional practice

Offered by: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Price: Free (or $300 for verified certificate)

When it comes to advanced artificial intelligence courses, you can’t go wrong with MIT’s deep dive into machine learning. This course includes everything learners want to know about linear models, deep learning and reinforcement learning, all through hands-on Python projects.

This course is instructor-led and follows a set schedule. It takes 15 weeks to complete, with an average workload of around 10 to 14 hours per week. In this course, students will learn:

• Principles behind machine learning problems
• How to implement and analyze models
• How to choose suitable models for different applications
• How to implement and organize machine learning projects

Offered by: Institut Mines-Télécom

Price: Free (or $49 for verified certificate)

Ending the list of advanced AI courses is this self-paced offering that covers the theoretical foundations upon which artificial intelligence can be grounded. The course is self-paced and takes around five weeks to finish.

Throughout the course’s five chapters, students will learn:

• How probability and randomness can be defined in algorithmic terms
• How algorithmic information sets limits to AI’s power (Gödel’s theorem)
• How to solve analogies and detect anomalies
• A criterion for making optimal hypotheses in learning tasks
• Why subjective information and interest are due to complexity drop

Online AI Courses Offer Opportunity to Level-up Tech Skills 

The field of artificial intelligence offers immense potential for professionals looking to upskill and stay ahead of the curve.

The courses and certificates mentioned above will give learners of all knowledge levels the ability to learn about topics like machine learning, natural language processing and deep learning — and how they all fit into the world of computer science and AI.

Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned professional, there’s an AI course of certification program that can help you further your understanding of this exciting technology and advance your career.