Indiana opens free GenAI course

Indiana University has opened its GenAI 101 course to anyone worldwide for free, turning an internal campus class into a public certificate program. (iu.edu) The course was built by faculty and staff at the Kelley School of Business and first launched in August 2025 for Indiana University students, faculty, and staff. Indiana University said more than 114,000 people inside the university had enrolled before the public rollout announced on April 17, 2026. (iu.edu) Indiana University expanded the class to its 805,000-plus alumni on October 22, 2025, then opened it to the general public this month. The university called that alumni network the largest living alumni community in the nation. (iu.edu) The public version is self-paced and designed for beginners, not computer scientists. Indiana University’s enrollment page says learners can earn a shareable badge and work through short lessons with no prior technical background required. (iu.edu) Indiana University and Indiana Public Media said the class covers prompt engineering, data storytelling, ethical use, and fact-checking artificial intelligence output. Indiana Public Media reported the course includes eight modules, 16 lessons, and a conversational artificial intelligence learning agent for support. (ipm.org) Generative artificial intelligence tools produce text, images, code, and other content from user instructions, which are often called prompts. Indiana University’s teaching site says those tools are now common enough across sectors that students need both digital literacy and information literacy to use them well. (teaching.iu.edu 1) (teaching.iu.edu 2) Indiana University has spent the past year building a wider teaching framework around those tools, including sample syllabus policies and guidance on classroom use. Its teaching resources warn instructors not to put internal university information or student, faculty, or staff intellectual property into public generative artificial intelligence systems without explicit consent. (teaching.iu.edu 1) (teaching.iu.edu 2) The course arrives as colleges keep moving artificial intelligence training out of computer science departments and into general education and workplace skills programs. Kelley’s public course page says the lessons are aimed at “real work” and everyday use, including office tasks and daily life. (iu.edu 1) (iu.edu 2) For schools and teachers outside Indiana University, the new piece is access: a free, self-paced course from a major public university that now sits outside the admissions gate. The next test is whether that 114,000-person campus course can keep growing once anyone can click in. (iu.edu)