Elements of AI

Updated for 2025

📣 NEW! Facilitate AI training in your organization with the Teaching Kit for Elements of AI.

Welcome to the Elements of AI free online course!

Join over 1 million other people learning about the basics of AI.

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Are you wondering how AI might affect your job or your life?

Do you want to learn more about what AI really means — and how it’s created?

Do you want to understand how AI will develop and affect us in the coming years?

Our goal is to demystify AI

The Elements of AI is a series of free online courses created by MinnaLearn and the University of Helsinki. We want to encourage as broad a group of people as possible to learn what AI is, what can (and can’t) be done with AI, and how to start creating AI methods. The courses combine theory with practical exercises and can be completed at your own pace.

Part 1

Introduction to AI

An Introduction to AI is a free online course for everyone interested in learning what AI is, what is possible (and not possible) with AI, and how it affects our lives – with no complicated math or programming required.

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Part 2

Building AI

Building AI is a free online course where you’ll learn about the actual algorithms that make creating AI methods possible. Some basic Python programming skills are recommended to get the most out of the course.

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for Organizations

Elements of AI for Business

Create a common understanding of AI in your organization to identify AI-powered business opportunities. Elements of AI for Business teaching kit is a collection of content, templates, and tools for a trainer to run a learning program.

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— I am very impressed by the focus on AI in Finland and the training 1% of Finland's population in AI - I wish it's a template which other countries can use.

Sundar Pichai , CEO, Google

— State secretary Pilvi Torsti and I decided that instead of all the usual pens and notebooks and trinkets, we would provide an AI course in all EU languages as an intangible gift of the Finnish Presidency of the EU.

Timo Harakka , Minister Of Employment

— The idea has a simple nordic ring to it: Start by teaching 1 percent of the country's population, or about 55,000 people, the basic concepts at the root of artificial technology, and gradually build on the number over the next few years.

Politico , Finlands grand AI experiment →

— For AI to be successful, not only do we have to develop it; we also must work on finding diverse ways of utilizing AI. And it’s not just up to the engineers, which is why it’s so great that the Elements of AI course is free for anyone to attend.

Elina Valtonen , Member of Parliament

— AI is going to have as big an impact on our society as electricity

Risto Siilasmaa , Chairman of board, Nokia

Our story so far

In spring 2018, MinnaLearn and the University of Helsinki came together with the aim of helping people to be empowered, not threatened, by artificial intelligence. Together, they built the Elements of AI to teach the basics of AI to people from a wide range of backgrounds.

1 million students

Over 1 million students have signed up for the Elements of AI course.

170 countries

The course has spread worldwide, with graduating students from over 170 countries.

40% women

About 40 % of course participants are women, more than double the average for computer science courses.