Explore AI with confidence — no tech background needed
A friendly, jargon-free guide for retirees ready to explore AI tools — discover what each one does, pick the right one for your life, and unlock surprisingly powerful uses you'd never imagine.
"I believe that curiosity has no age limit — and that with the right guide, anyone can discover just how much AI can brighten their everyday life."— Nina Hershberger
What you'll learn
What you'll be able to do
- Confidently identify the major AI tools (ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, and more) and explain what makes each one unique
- Choose the right AI tool for any everyday task — from writing a letter to planning a trip to managing medications
- Use AI to pursue personal passions such as writing a memoir, learning a new hobby, or exploring family genealogy
- Spot AI-generated misinformation and apply simple habits to stay safe and protect personal information online
- Automate small but time-consuming daily tasks — reminders, email drafts, gift ideas, recipes — using free AI tools
- Teach a friend or family member the AI basics, boosting your own confidence and becoming the go-to tech guide in your circle
How it works
A school that adapts to you
This isn't a set of static videos. Every lesson is generated live and tuned to where you actually are.
We learn your level
A quick placement check tailors your starting point so you're never bored or lost.
Lessons adapt as you go
Each lesson is written for your pace and your goal, adjusting as your skills grow.
Your AI coach keeps you moving
Checkpoints, feedback, and gentle nudges turn progress into a real result.
The curriculum
What's inside your school
6 modules · 20 lessons
Meet the AIs: Your Friendly Introduction to the Big Players
Before picking up any tool, learners need to understand what AI actually is, dispel common fears and myths, and get hands-on with the major platforms side by side. This foundational module builds the vocabulary and comfort level that every later module depends on.
- 1.1What Exactly Is AI — And Why Should You Care?Included
- 1.2The Main Characters: ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot & Claude Side by SideIncluded
- 1.3Your First Conversation: Opening, Typing, and Getting a Real AnswerIncluded
The Right Tool for the Right Job: Matching AI to Everyday Life
With the basics in place, learners now see AI solve real problems they face every week. Each lesson maps a specific life domain — communication, health, travel, and daily logistics — to concrete AI workflows, ensuring learners leave with immediately usable skills rather than abstract knowledge.
- 2.1AI for Communication: Letters, Emails, Cards & Hard ConversationsIncluded
- 2.2AI for Health & Wellness: Understanding Medical Information WiselyIncluded
- 2.3AI for Travel & Leisure: Plan Trips, Find Deals & Explore the WorldIncluded
- 2.4AI for Daily Life: Shopping, Recipes, Finances & Home Problem-SolvingIncluded
AI for Your Passions: Memoir, Hobbies, Genealogy & Learning
This module moves beyond utility into personal fulfilment — the dimension most likely to make AI feel truly meaningful to retirees. Learners apply AI to the things they love or have always wanted to do, from writing their life story to mastering a new hobby. A creative AI exploration lesson is added to ensure the module fully covers self-expression and arts-based uses mentioned in the target outcomes.
- 3.1Write Your Life Story: AI as Your Memoir Co-AuthorIncluded
- 3.2Create, Craft & Imagine: AI for Arts, Music & Creative HobbiesIncluded
- 3.3Learn Anything: Using AI as Your Personal TutorIncluded
- 3.4Family Genealogy: Using AI to Trace Your Roots & Preserve Family HistoryIncluded
Staying Safe & Staying Sharp: AI Risks, Scams & Smart Habits
A dedicated safety module placed before automation practice so that learners build protective habits before they start using AI more independently. Covers misinformation, deepfakes, AI-powered scams specifically targeting older adults, and personal data privacy. The original sequencing is preserved — safety before advanced independent use is the correct order.
- 4.1Spotting Fake: AI-Generated Misinformation & DeepfakesIncluded
- 4.2AI-Powered Scams: Recognising & Shutting Down the New ThreatsIncluded
- 4.3Protecting Your Privacy: What to Share, What to Guard, and How AI Uses Your DataIncluded
AI on Autopilot: Saving Time with Everyday Automation
Now that learners can use AI safely and confidently, this module focuses on working smarter — mastering the art of writing great prompts, building simple daily AI routines, and discovering the genuinely surprising use cases that make retirees feel like insiders. The prompting lesson is moved here from its implicit position because strong prompting skills are most useful once learners have experienced AI across multiple domains.
- 5.1Prompts That Work Every Time: The Art of Asking AI WellIncluded
- 5.2Your AI Daily Assistant: Reminders, Routines & Recurring TasksIncluded
- 5.3Surprising AI Superpowers: Uses You'd Never Have GuessedIncluded
Pay It Forward: Becoming the AI Guide in Your Circle
The final module transforms learners from students into confident teachers. They consolidate everything into a personal AI toolkit, practise explaining AI simply to others, and leave with a concrete plan for continuing to learn. A 'next steps and staying current' lesson is added to ensure learners have a roadmap for keeping their skills fresh as AI evolves rapidly.
- 6.1Putting It All Together: Your Personal AI ToolkitIncluded
- 6.2Teaching a Friend: How to Share AI Simply and PatientlyIncluded
- 6.3Keeping Up: Staying Current as AI Keeps ChangingIncluded
Who it's for
Is this you?
The Curious Retiree
You've heard AI buzzing in every conversation and you're ready to finally understand what the fuss is about — on your own terms, at your own pace.
The Memoir Writer
You have a lifetime of stories worth telling and you'll learn to use AI as a patient co-author who helps you shape, organise, and preserve them.
The Family Historian
You've always wanted to trace your roots and document your family's history — AI becomes the research partner who never tires and never judges.
The Safety-First Sceptic
You're open to AI but worried about scams, misinformation, and privacy — this course gives you the knowledge to explore confidently and stay protected.
The Solo Adventurer
You love planning trips and new experiences, and you'll discover how AI can help you research destinations, find deals, and travel more independently.
The Neighbourhood Tech Guide
You want to be the person your friends and family turn to for help — and the final module gives you the tools and confidence to teach others simply and patiently.
Questions
Frequently asked
Your teacher
A note from your teacher
Nina Hershberger
If you've ever closed a news article about AI and thought, "That all sounds fascinating — but it's clearly not for someone like me" — I want you to know that feeling is completely understandable. And I want you to know it's also completely wrong.
You are exactly who this course is for. Not a younger version of you who "grew up with technology." Not someone with a computer science degree or a grandchild on speed-dial. You, right now, with the curiosity you already have — that's all it takes to start.
I built AI Made Simple because I kept seeing the same thing happen: brilliant, warm, life-experienced people getting left out of one of the most useful developments in modern life — not because they couldn't handle it, but because nobody had taken the time to explain it in a way that actually made sense. This course is my attempt to fix that. We start at the very beginning (what AI actually is, in plain everyday words), we move at a pace that feels comfortable, and we never assume you know something you haven't been taught yet. Every lesson is designed to give you a small, real win — something you can actually use that same day.
What I love most about teaching this material to people in their 60s, 70s, and beyond is that you bring something most younger learners don't: perspective. You know what a meaningful letter looks like. You know what a good trip feels like. You have stories worth telling and a family history worth preserving. AI doesn't replace any of that — it just gives you a remarkably patient, knowledgeable helper to do it with. That's what we unlock together in this course.
I also know that safety matters deeply to you, so we don't skip the hard stuff. We look scams in the eye, we talk honestly about misinformation and deepfakes, and we make sure you leave knowing exactly how to protect yourself and your information. Confidence and caution go hand in hand here.
So if you're ready to stop watching from the sidelines and start exploring — welcome. Your timing is perfect. Let's take the first step together.
— Nina Hershberger
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- 6 modules, 20 lessons
- AI-adaptive lessons tuned to your level
- Quizzes & checkpoints to lock in progress
- Your own AI learning coach
- Learn on any device, at your pace
- Full access for as long as you're subscribed