On June 28, 2023, Microsoft and LinkedIn launched the AI Skills Initiative certification program, a library of free videos for entry-level generative AI professionals. The program aims to teach participants how to apply generative AI to their work.
Starting in December 2024, Microsoft expanded its library to form the AI Skills Navigator portal.
What are the Career Essentials in Generative AI programs from Microsoft and LinkedIn?
The Microsoft AI Skills initiative, developed with LinkedIn, consists of five modules. Each module includes a video and some are supplemented with quizzes, a workbook file, or both. Completing all five modules grants the student a Professional Certificate in Generative AI to display on LinkedIn Learning.
The content presented in the AI Skills Initiative certification leans toward Microsoft's Copilot rather than its main rival, Google's Gemini.
The Professional Certificate in Generative AI will be available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Simplified Chinese and Japanese and will be free until 2025.
SEE: Learn how generative AI is transforming cloud security. (Technological Republic)
“We have the opportunity to provide critical information to everyone, everywhere, to help us all get ahead of skills gaps and harness their creativity to retrieve useful information,” said Naria Santa Lucia, general manager of digital inclusion at Microsoft, in an email. to TechRepublic. “As we learn, technology also learns from us, and we have the power to determine how technology can best help us.”
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The LinkedIn training course is part of Microsoft's Skills for Jobs program, which includes a training module for teachers, trainers and facilitators exploring artificial intelligence. Please note that some of the material focuses on Microsoft Azure and Azure OpenAI.
Generative AI skills are among companies' top three training priorities
According to the World Economic Forum, more than 75% of companies plan to adopt AI in the next five years. Training employees to use AI and big data is the third highest skills training priority that companies plan to focus on during this period, as highlighted in the WEF's Future of Jobs 2023 report. That statistic includes generative AI and related technologies, such as machine learning, which fall under the same umbrella.
The importance of AI in the workplace is further highlighted by Microsoft's May 2024 Workplace Trends Index, which found that 75% of knowledge workers use AI at work. However, 53% of people surveyed who use AI at work are concerned that its use makes them appear replaceable.
Additionally, some workers (45%) are still worried about losing their jobs to AI. On the other hand, a proportional number of hiring leaders (55%) say they are worried they will not have enough talent to fill positions in 2025.
In last year's Job Trends Index, 49% of people were worried that AI would make their jobs obsolete. At the same time, 70% are open to the possibility of delegating some tasks to AI to reduce their workloads.
To address these challenges and opportunities, Microsoft proposes improving skills in artificial intelligence to remedy the imbalances. An element of skills training somewhat unique to generative AI is the practice of rapid engineering.
“Unlike other enterprise software, generative AI tools require the user to train the tool themselves,” Shravan Goli, COO of Coursera, said in an email to TechRepublic in 2023. “Without good guidance, the tool will not be able to help employees increase productivity significantly, and increasing productivity is one of the most promising components of generative AI for today's workers.”
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He also noted that training in generative AI skills requires ethical oversight, which Coursera considers in its own free training modules.
“As with any emerging technology, society is still navigating its broader implications and managing safety barriers,” Goli said. “To take advantage of this incredibly powerful tool while ensuring responsible use by employees, I believe organizations must carefully outline ethical guidelines.”
Note: This story was originally published in 2023 and updated for 2024.
