Given the wide range of backgrounds interested in ai these days, I've tried to make this guide widely accessible. However, no guide can help everyone. Here are some specific groups I have in mind.
- Technical professionals trying to improve your skills to advance your career
- Business leaders who haven't coded in years, trying to keep up with the changing technological landscape
- Entrepreneurs create native ai products
- Students trying to develop your technical ai skills
about me — I have worked in ai for the last 6 years. I started as an ai researcher while earning my PhD and eventually worked as a data scientist at Toyota. Although I still have a lot to learn, the following approach covers (what I believe to be) the essentials based on my personal experience.
The guiding principle of this framework is learn by doing. Each step outlines a clear and specific goal through which, upon completion, key skills will naturally develop. In other words, instead of reviewing a list of concepts and courses, every step is a task designed to force me to learn essential skills upon completion.
Below is an overview of the five-step approach. Each step builds on the previous ones.
- Use ChatGPT (or similar)
- Install Python
- Build an automation
- Build a machine learning project
- Build a real world project
If I start from scratch, the first thing I would do is familiarize myself with modern ai tools, i.e. ChatGPT, Claude and the like. This is important because frequent use of these models will give me a practical understanding of what they can and cannot do and develop my ability to use them effectively through instructions.
On a more meta level, these chat interfaces are amazing tools for learning ai (or anything else, really). I would use it to explain buzzwords and confusing technical concepts (e.g. LLM, tokens, API, RAG) and make sure ask follow-up questions until you have a solid understanding of each idea. For those who don't click, I would look for alternative resources using Google search and YouTube.
While you could go far with today's no-code ai tools, they are fundamentally limited. That is, these tools cannot be easily used to create custom solutions or process information massively. So the next thing I would do is install Python on my computer.
Python is the industry standard programming language for ai development. To install it, I would ask ChatGPT for step-by-step instructions. If I get stuck, I'll come back to ChatGPT, explain the problem, and ask for additional guidance.
While using ChatGPT (or any other ai assistant) in this way can significantly streamline the process, I would still take the time to understand each step of the process and ask follow-up questions as needed. This is an important habit to develop because avoid accumulating technical debtthat I will have to pay later when something goes wrong.
Once I feel comfortable using ChatGPT and install Python on my machine, my next step would be to create a simple automation using Python. My approach to generating project ideas would be Think about things I constantly use ChatGPT for. (e.g. summarizing research articles), then try automating it with Python.
This would require me to become familiar with OpenAI's Python API. So, I would start by reading your documentation and reviewing the example code there. Once I was comfortable with the API, I started writing Python code.
My first step would be Think about the steps of my automation.. For example, if summarizing research papers, the steps could be:
- Read article content in Python
- Build message for GPT-4o
- Make an OpenAI API call
If I got stuck, I would turn to ChatGPT for help. For example, if you didn't know how to read PDF files in Python, you could ask ChatGPT for help. If it throws code I don't understand, I would ask follow-up questions until I understand each line.
(Again) it's important that I take this approach to coding with ChatGPT because blindly copying and pasting code wouldn't teach me much. It would also build up relentlessly technical debt. In other words, you would get short-term gains, but would have to pay for them later through technical difficulties and headaches..
Task: Use the OpenAI API (or similar) to create simple automation
Resources: Introduction to the OpenAI API | Example of summary on paper
After Step 3 becomes easy for me, I would look for more sophisticated projects. Instead of just making ChatGPT-like API calls, I would create a project that required me use embedded models or train a model myself.
Possible project ideas would be things like:
For example, if I chose the RAG project, I would first learn about RAG by watching YouTube. videos and read blog posts. Then, I would break down the basic components of the system and the steps to implement it. Finally, I would start coding the project, using ChatGPT as co-pilot, as in Step 3.
- Task: Create a machine learning project that goes beyond a ChatGPT-like API call
- Resources: More project ideas
Although you would have learned a lot about the technical side of ai in steps 3 and 4, this is It is not enough to generate value with it. For that, I would need to use what I learned to solve real-world problems.
There are two ways to do this. I could, one, solve my own problem, or two, solve someone else's problem. Since I (hopefully) already did the same in steps 3 and 4, here's a Some different ways I would approach this last one.
- Reach out to business owners and professionals in my network
- Join a research group at my University (if I were a student)
- Find an internship (if you were a student)
- Find a freelance job on Upwork
Let's say I graduated college and wasn't confident enough to freelance yet, so that leaves me. Option 1. I would start by making a list of people to contact. Ideal contacts would be small business owners or professionals working in a small or medium-sized business.
Then, I would compose a message like the following and send it to everyone on my list via LinkedIn DM or email. If I'm having difficulty finding the correct wording, I would use ChatGPT (again) to help me.
Subject: Offering Free Help with ai ProjectsHi (Name),
Your work at (Company Name) caught my attention—(insert a specific detail or
observation, e.g., “it’s clear you’re doing innovative things in x” or “your
focus on Y stood out to me”).
Over the past few months, I’ve been building practical ai projects to develop
my skills. You can see some examples (here)(link to portfolio).
Now, I’m looking to apply my learnings to solve real-world problems
by helping businesses like yours—**completely free of charge**. If there’s a
challenge you’ve been looking to automate or improve with ai, I’d be happy to
explore how I can contribute.
Would you be opposed to a short conversation to discuss this?
Best regards,
Shaw
Although ai involves an interdisciplinary collection of technical skills and knowledge, with today's tools and resources it has never been more accessible. Here, I shared the five-step approach I would take to learn it today.
That being said, it is important to remember that learning (in itself) is difficult. You will become confused, frustrated, and wonder why you are putting yourself through this. However, if you are willing to move forward, you will be rewarded with clarity and knowledge, which is an amazing gift.
If you have questions or want feedback on project ideas, feel free to share them in the comments 🙂
