Where do you start with artificial intelligence? The answer is in artificial intelligence itself.
Why do I say that? Over the years I’ve made a ton of videos on YouTube, TikTok and LinkedIn, and this is a recurring question - especially from young people coming out of university, or choosing a university, or from people who want to reinvent their careers and go deeper. The question always arrives in the same form: “I don’t know where to start with AI, recommend a book, recommend a course.”
Fine. It’s a legitimate question, and it made sense before ChatGPT came out. Because for the first time in the history of humanity we are facing a technology that explains to you, by itself, how it works. You don’t need the instruction manual for Claude: if you ask Claude how something is done, it has a dedicated skill and it tells you exactly, step by step, how the product works.
The one thing nobody can give you
In general, if you want to know where to start with AI, the most precious thing that nobody on YouTube can ever give you - I can’t give it to you, and absolutely nobody else can either - is knowledge of your own background. Where you’re starting from, where you think you’ll get to, how much time you have, how motivated you are, what kind of emotions you carry with you as you face this path.
So open up a nice chat, write as much as you can, give context to the AI - whichever one is your favorite - and tell it about the path you’ve taken so far. What you liked, what you didn’t like, what phase you’re in, how you want to change, where you want to get to, at what rhythm, and what kind of material lets you learn best.
Because there are people who learn in what you might call linear mode - who like to sit down (especially us old farts, we sit down and read entire books) - and there are people who instead want to learn in fragments, in visual pieces, especially the kids who are used to video feeds.
Yes, you’re feeding the big tech
Someone will point out that the American big tech companies will be very happy with this advice, given that you’re essentially pouring half your life into telling them these things. But really, folks: if you want to understand where to begin, there’s no better way than getting yourself analyzed in your current position and asking the language model to build you a little program, or to suggest topics, keywords, YouTube videos and possibly courses.
And from there everything opens up. You can connect material from various people, made in various years - maybe the more scientific part, which is a bit more settled, including some older texts, plus tutorials. There are plenty, as I keep saying.
So my advice on where to start: ask the AI.
