foundations · Level 1
What is AI? A plain-English starter
How modern AI works, what it is good at, where it goes wrong, and how to use it safely.
Start with the essentials
The short answer
AI, or artificial intelligence, is software that performs tasks that normally need human intelligence, such as understanding language, spotting patterns and making decisions. Modern chatbots are a kind of AI called a large language model. They work by predicting a likely next piece of text, which makes them fluent and useful, and also means they can be confidently wrong.
What you will learn
- You will be able to explain what AI, machine learning and generative AI mean, in your own words.
- You will understand, at a simple level, how a chatbot produces an answer.
- You will know what AI is good at, and the situations where it is likely to mislead you.
- You will be able to spot and check a hallucination.
- You will have a short personal checklist for using AI safely and privately.
Who it is for
Anyone who is curious about AI and has little or no experience. No coding, no maths and no special software are needed.
Before you start
- None. A free chatbot account is helpful for the exercises but you can also do most of them on paper.
Keep learning
The complete workbook
This workbook explains modern AI in plain English. You will learn the difference between AI, machine learning and generative AI, how a chatbot actually produces an answer, what it does well, where it fails, and the habits that keep you safe. It ends with three small experiments you can run today with any free chatbot.
- 01Untangling the wordsIn the workbook · 1 exercise
AI comes with a pile of confusing vocabulary. Five ideas will get you most of the way.
- 02How a chatbot really worksIn the workbook · 1 exercise
You do not need any maths to understand the core idea. It is simpler, and stranger, than most people expect.
- 03What AI is good atIn the workbook · Reading
Knowing the strengths is how you get real value quickly.
- 04Where it goes wrong, and how to checkIn the workbook · 1 exercise
Regular users tend to meet the same handful of problems. Learn them now and they will not catch you out.
- 05Using AI safely and privatelyIn the workbook · 1 exercise
A few habits, built now, protect you and other people later.
- 06Your first three experimentsIn the workbook · 3 exercises
Use a free chatbot and non-sensitive text. Each experiment takes about ten minutes.
Also inside: a 8-point checklist, a glossary of 10 terms and 10 questions and answers to test yourself. 7 hands-on exercises, each with a worked answer at the back where the workbook gives one.
No login, no card, no account. Before the download we ask you to follow Mickai (two quick links). Free to download and use for personal learning, study groups and inside your own team. Please do not resell the workbooks or republish them as your own. Link people to trust-agent.ai instead.
Test yourself
Questions and answers
Is a chatbot the same thing as AI?
No. A chatbot is one application of AI. AI is the broad field. Chatbots are usually powered by a large language model, which is one kind of generative AI.
Does an AI chatbot look things up on the internet?
The model itself does not. On its own it generates text from patterns it learned in training. Many chatbot tools can also search the web, some of them automatically, or let you upload documents, which gives the model fresh or specific information to work from. If an answer shows sources, open them.
Why does the same question give different answers?
Language models include a small amount of randomness when choosing each next token. That makes writing feel natural, and it also means you can get a different reply each time you ask.
What is a hallucination and why does it happen?
It is when a model states something false or invented as if it were true. It happens because the model generates plausible text rather than checking facts, so it can produce confident errors.
How do I check whether an answer is true?
Check names, dates, numbers and quotes against a trustworthy source you find yourself. If the AI gives a source, open it and confirm it exists and supports the claim. Take extra care when the stakes are high.
Is it safe to paste my work into an AI tool?
It depends on the tool and on your organisation's rules. Anything you paste is sent to another company's computers. Never paste secrets or other people's private data, and check the tool's privacy settings first.
Can AI replace professionals such as doctors or solicitors?
No. It can help you understand a topic and prepare good questions, but for health, legal, money or safety decisions you should rely on a qualified person.
What is a token?
A token is a small piece of text, often a short word or part of a word. Models read and write in tokens. As a rough rule of thumb, a token is about three quarters of an English word.
What is a context window?
It is the amount of text a model can consider at one time, including your messages, its replies and any documents you add. Text outside the window is not seen by the model.
Do I need to learn to code to use AI?
No. You can use AI well with plain language alone. Coding becomes useful later if you want to build your own tools, and later workbooks in this library cover that.
When you have finished
Get your certificate of completion
Type your name and download a certificate for this workbook as a PDF, ready to print or to add to LinkedIn. It is made on your own device, so your name is never sent to us. It is a self-declared certificate, not an accredited qualification.
Learn the language
Key terms
- Artificial intelligence (AI)
- Computer systems that perform tasks that normally need human intelligence, such as understanding language or spotting patterns.
- Machine learning
- A way of building AI where the computer learns patterns from many examples instead of following rules written by hand.
- Neural network
- A layered mathematical structure, loosely inspired by the brain, that machine learning uses to learn patterns.
- Generative AI
- AI that creates new content such as text, images, audio, video or code.
- Large language model (LLM)
- A generative AI trained on very large amounts of text that can read and write language. It powers most chatbots.
- Token
- A small piece of text, often a short word or part of a word, which is the unit a language model reads and writes.
6 of the workbook's 10 terms. The complete glossary is in the workbook.
Follow the evidence
Sources and checks
Facts last checked: .
These workbooks use AI assistance. See how the workbooks are made.
Created by Mickarle Wagstaff-Irons - Micky Irons with the Mickai team. Published by Mickai LTD. Last updated 25 September 2026.
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