Bring AI confidence to the people you support.
Everything you need to run Build with AI: First Steps with your group: five friendly hours that take people from "AI isn't for me" to a first product of their own. Free to use, print, translate and adapt.
- Free, always
- No sign-up with us
- ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini
- Open licence: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
- Time
- 5 hours
- Group size
- 4–16
- Cost
- £0
- Experience needed
- None
One day, or five weekly sessions
Learners per facilitator
Free accounts, free materials
Just a browser and an email address
Ready to teach, out of the box.
Five lessons with notes
Plain-English slides with facilitator notes on every slide. Present full screen and press N for your notes.
Five prompt tutorials
Step-by-step prompts learners copy into their assistant, with a simple "Did you…?" check after each.
A printable handout
Every prompt in one place, ready to print in large type for learners who prefer paper.
A certificate to celebrate
Learners add their name and what they made, then print it. Lovely to hand out together at the end.
| Course | Five one-hour units, each a 25-minute lesson (slides) and a 35-minute tutorial (prompts) |
|---|---|
| Cost | Free. Learners use a free account with ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. No account with MVP Studios |
| Group size | Works with 4 to 16 learners per facilitator; add a helper for every 8 learners who are new to computers |
| You need | A room with internet, a projector or large screen, devices for learners (or one per pair), printed handouts |
| Licence | CC BY-NC-SA 4.0: free to use, print, translate and adapt for non-commercial training |
What the course is
Build with AI: First Steps is a free, five-hour starter course. In five hours, someone with no technical background learns to use a free AI assistant safely, turns a real problem into a simple product idea, builds a clickable prototype of it by prompting alone, and shows it to real people. No coding, no paid tools.
| Unit | Lesson | Learners leave with |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meet your AI assistant | A free account, safe habits and three problems they have noticed |
| 2 | Find a problem worth solving | A problem statement and one real conversation |
| 3 | The smallest useful thing | A one-page product idea |
| 4 | Build it by prompting | A clickable one-screen prototype |
| 5 | Show it, learn and decide | A tested prototype, a decision and a 90-day AI plan |
The course promises a confident, safe start and a first product of the learner's own. It does not promise a business, a job or technical skills beyond prompting. Please describe it the same way when you invite people.
All the examples use one fictional case: a community café run by volunteers, where the coordinator struggles to fill the weekly rota. Learners work on their own problems.
Who it suits
The course is for anyone, and especially for people who feel AI is not for them: career changers, older learners, carers, volunteers, small community groups and the people charities support. It suits learners who can use a web browser and an email account. Learners who have never used a computer will need a helper beside them, or a session on the basics first.
It is not a course in coding, and it is not advice on health, money or legal matters. If your group needs help with those, the AI is not the right place: point them to a person or service you trust.
Running it in one day
A full day, with breaks, takes about six and a half hours. The lunch break is a good time for the real conversation in Lesson 2, step 5.
| Time | What happens |
|---|---|
| 09:30 | Welcome, introductions and ground rules (15 min) |
| 09:45 | Unit 1 · Meet your AI assistant: lesson and tutorial (60 min) |
| 10:45 | Break (15 min) |
| 11:00 | Unit 2 · Find a problem worth solving (60 min) |
| 12:00 | Lunch, with the real conversation from Lesson 2 (45 min) |
| 12:45 | Unit 3 · The smallest useful thing (60 min) |
| 13:45 | Break (15 min) |
| 14:00 | Unit 4 · Build it by prompting (60 min) |
| 15:00 | Break (15 min) |
| 15:15 | Unit 5 · Show it, learn and decide (60 min) |
| 16:15 | Certificates, next steps and close (15 min) |
| 16:30 | Finish |
A full day is tiring for people new to screens. Build in short stretch breaks, and don't worry if a unit runs over: the tutorials can be finished at home.
Running it over five sessions
Five weekly sessions of about 75 minutes suit groups that already meet regularly, and give learners time between sessions to talk to real people.
| Part of each session | Time |
|---|---|
| Welcome and recap of last time, including any problems with accounts | 10 min |
| Lesson (slides) | 25 min |
| Tutorial (prompts) | 35 min |
| Close: one thing learned, and what to do before next time | 5 min |
Between sessions:
- After session 2, each learner talks to one real person about their problem, if they didn't in the session.
- After session 4, each learner finds two people to try their prototype in session 5, or arranges to show it to them that week.
Before the session
- Devices. Laptops or tablets are best, especially for Unit 4. Phones work for Units 1 to 3. One device per pair is fine.
- Free accounts. Ask learners to sign up before the first session if they can, with an email address they can get into. Bring a list of the three website addresses: chatgpt.com, claude.ai and gemini.google.com. Check each service's minimum age and terms for your group.
- Try it yourself. A week before, run every prompt in at least one tool on a free account, and Unit 4 in all three if you can. Features, names and free allowances change often.
- Room. Reliable wi-fi (test it with several devices at once), power sockets or charged devices, tables that let pairs sit side by side, and space to move around.
- Projector. A large screen showing your own assistant, so you can demonstrate each prompt and use the offline option if needed.
- Accessibility. Ask learners in advance what would help. Increase text size on devices and the projector, read prompts aloud, allow extra time, and check the room is step-free. Screen readers and voice typing work with all three tools.
- Large print handouts. Print the handout section of this guide at a large size (at least 16 point) on plain paper, one copy per learner, plus spares.
- Certificates. Check the certificate page prints well on your printer, and print a few blank copies.
The offline option
If learners have no devices, no accounts or no reliable internet, the course still works.
- Pairs share a device. One person types, the other reads the prompt and checks the answer. Swap at each step. Pairs often learn more than individuals.
- The facilitator types on a projector. You type each prompt into your own assistant, with the group choosing what goes in the [square brackets]. Learners write their answers in a notebook. Use a made-up group problem, or take turns working on each learner's problem.
- Paper first. Learners can write their problem statement, questions and one-screen description on paper, then build in Unit 4 on a shared device.
When you type on a projector, everything on the screen is visible to the room. Use your own account only for the session, keep its chat history clear of anything private, and never type a learner's personal details.
Supporting nervous learners
Many people arrive worried. Common fears are "Will AI take my job?", "Will I break something?" and "Is it safe?". Lesson 1 answers them honestly; you can help by:
- saying early that nothing they do can break the computer or the AI, and that wrong answers are part of the learning;
- pairing nervous learners with a patient partner, never with someone who will take over the keyboard;
- letting people watch first and type later;
- reading prompts aloud for anyone who finds reading on screen hard;
- celebrating small wins: the first answer, the first caught mistake, the first click on their own prototype;
- giving people permission to stop, take a break or leave a step for later.
Avoid jargon. If you use a word like "prompt" or "prototype", explain it the first time.
Safeguarding and personal data
Treat this course like any other session with your group, under your organisation's safeguarding policy. In addition:
- Never paste personal information. Learners must never paste personal, health, financial or client information into an AI assistant: their own or anyone else's. That includes names, addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, case notes, bank details and anything about the people your charity supports. Repeat this in every unit.
- Use general words. "A volunteer", "someone I support", "Person 1". Prototypes use made-up data only.
- Vulnerable learners. Some learners may be at higher risk from scams, misinformation or over-trusting a confident answer. Spend extra time on Lesson 1, steps 3 and 5. Make sure they know AI is not a source of advice on health, money, legal or safeguarding questions, and who in your organisation they can ask instead.
- Accounts. Learners own their accounts. Never ask for or note anyone's password. If a learner can't sign up (no email, below the minimum age, not comfortable), use the pair or projector option.
- If someone shares something sensitive. If a learner types or says something personal or worrying, pause calmly. Help them delete the message or the chat if they wish, and remind the group of the rule without singling them out. If what they shared raises a safeguarding concern, follow your organisation's safeguarding procedure and speak to your designated safeguarding lead, as you would for anything else disclosed in a session.
- Real conversations. In Lessons 2 and 5 learners talk to real people. Remind them to ask permission, keep notes without names, and never record or photograph anyone without consent.
Printable handout: the prompts
Print this section in large type. Learners copy each prompt into their AI assistant and replace anything in [square brackets] with their own words. Every prompt works in ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. Never paste personal information.
Lesson 1 · Meet your AI assistant
Step 1 · Set up and say hello
Hello. I have never used an AI assistant before and I am a bit nervous. In three short sentences, tell me what you can help me with, and one thing you are not good at. Please use plain English.
Step 2 · A first real conversation
I know a lot about [something you know well, for example gardening, cooking, a sport or your town]. Tell me three useful tips about it for a beginner. Keep each tip to one sentence.
Step 2, follow-up
Make tip number 2 simpler, as if you were explaining it to a 10-year-old.
Step 3 · Catch the AI being confidently wrong
Give me three quotes from famous people about community cafés. For each one, give the exact book it comes from and the page number.
Step 3, follow-up
How sure are you about those quotes, books and page numbers? Tell me honestly which parts you might have made up.
Step 4 · List three problems you have noticed
Help me notice problems around me. Ask me five short questions, one at a time, about my week: things that took too long, things I forgot, things that annoyed me or the people around me, and things I do with paper, phone calls or lists. Wait for my answer before asking the next question. After five answers, suggest three problems I seem to have.
Step 5 · Keep it safe
What kinds of information should I never type into an AI assistant? Give me a short list in plain English, and tell me how to spot a fake message or scam that pretends to come from an AI company.
Lesson 2 · Find a problem worth solving
Step 1 · Pick one problem
Here are three problems I have noticed: [problem 1], [problem 2], [problem 3]. For each one, ask me one question that helps me see how often it happens and how much it matters. Then help me choose the one to work on first.
Step 2 · Write your problem statement
Help me write a problem statement for this problem: [your problem]. Use this shape: who has the problem, when it happens, what goes wrong, and what it costs them (time, money, stress or a missed chance). Do not mention any app, website or solution. Keep it to three sentences. Ask me two questions first if you need more detail.
Step 3 · Write five good questions
Write five questions I can ask a real person to find out whether they have this problem: [your problem statement]. Ask about the last time it happened and what they actually did, not what they would do in the future. No question should be answerable with a polite "yes". Do not mention my idea.
Step 4 · Rehearse with the AI
Practice only. Pretend to be [the kind of person who has the problem], a busy person who is polite but a little doubtful. I will ask you my questions one at a time. Give short, realistic answers, and don't make the problem sound worse than it is. When I type "STOP", tell me which of my questions worked well and which one I should change.
Step 5 · Ask one real person
I am about to ask a real person about this problem, for about five minutes, [in person / by phone / by message]. Write me a friendly two-sentence opening that says why I am asking, that there are no right or wrong answers, and that I won't write down their name. Then give me a simple notes page with two columns: "What they did" and "What they said".
Lesson 3 · The smallest useful thing
Step 1 · What do people use today?
Here is my problem statement: [your problem statement]. What do people with this problem use today to deal with it? Include apps or websites, paper or spreadsheets, asking other people, and doing nothing. For every app or website, give me a link I can open. If you are not sure something exists, say "not sure" instead of guessing.
Step 2 · Check two sources yourself
I opened [link 1] and [link 2]. Here is what I found: [what you saw]. Which of the other things in your list are you least sure about? Mark anything you described from memory rather than from a source.
Step 3 · Write a one-line value proposition
Help me write a one-line value proposition in this shape: For [who], who [their problem], [product name] is a [simple description] that [the main benefit]. Unlike [what they use today], it [what is better]. Give me three versions, then tell me which is clearest and why.
Step 4 · Who might this leave out?
Look at my value proposition: [your value proposition]. Who might this leave out or make things harder for? Think about people without smartphones, older people, disabled people, people who speak other languages and people with little time. Give me the two most important ones and one simple change for each.
Step 5 · Describe one screen in words
Help me describe one screen for my idea: [your value proposition]. The screen should let someone do the single most useful thing, and nothing more. List what is on the screen from top to bottom: the title, the main information shown, and one or two buttons. Use made-up example data with no real names. Keep it to ten lines.
Lesson 4 · Build it by prompting
Step 1 · Find the canvas or preview
Can you show me a web page you build as a clickable preview here, next to our chat? If so, how do I turn that on in this app? Answer in two short steps.
Step 2 · Build your screen
Build a simple, clickable one-page web prototype in the preview. It is for [who], so they can [the main thing they do]. Here is what is on the screen, from top to bottom: [your one-screen description]. Use made-up example data only. Make the buttons do something visible when clicked, even if nothing is saved. Use large, clear text and keep it simple.
Step 3 · Improvement 1: make it clear
Make one change: [what is confusing, for example "the buttons don't say what they do" or "I can't tell which slots are empty"]. Keep everything else the same.
Step 4 · Improvement 2: make it easy for everyone
Make this screen easier for everyone to use: larger text and buttons, strong colour contrast, simple words, and make sure it still works on a small phone screen. Keep the same content.
Step 5 · Improvement 3: your choice
Make one more change: [the one thing that would most help a real person use it, for example "show a thank-you message after someone signs up for a shift"]. Keep everything else the same.
Step 6 · Keep a copy
How can I save or share this prototype so I can show it to two people next lesson, from this app? Give me the simplest way, in two steps.
Lesson 5 · Show it, learn and decide
Step 1 · Plan the test
I am going to show my prototype to two people for five minutes each. It is for [who], so they can [the main thing it does]. Give me one simple task to ask them to do, in one sentence, without explaining how. Then give me a notes page with three parts: "What they did", "What they said", and "Where they got stuck".
Step 2 · Show it to two people
Here are my notes from two people trying my prototype. Names are removed. [paste your notes]. Using only what is in my notes, tell me: what did each person actually do, where did they get stuck, and what did they say? Don't add anything that is not in my notes.
Step 3 · Decide what next
Based on my notes, help me decide what to do next. Give me three options: keep going and improve one thing; change the idea because the problem looks different; or stop and pick another problem. For each, say what in my notes supports it. Then ask me which one I choose and why.
Step 4 · Your 90-day AI plan
Help me make a simple 90-day plan for using AI. I am [a few words about you, for example "a volunteer at a food bank" or "retired and curious"], and I want to [what you want from AI]. Give me one small goal for each month, each with one thing to try in my free AI assistant. Add one safety habit for each month. Keep it to one short page.
Step 5 · Your certificate and next steps
In one sentence, describe what I made in this course, for my certificate: a prototype of [your product] for [who], tested by two people. Then, in one sentence, tell me the most important thing I learned, based on our conversation today.
Licence
The course materials (the slides, the five tutorials and this facilitator guide) are published under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0): creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0.
- You may use, print, share, translate and adapt the materials for free, for non-commercial training.
- Credit MVP Studios Ltd as the original author, link to the licence, and say if you changed anything. For example: "Based on Build with AI: First Steps by MVP Studios Ltd, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Adapted by [your organisation]."
- Share alike: if you adapt or translate the materials, share your version under the same licence.
- Non-commercial: you may not sell the materials or use them mainly for commercial advantage, such as a paid course. The licence text sets out exactly what counts.
- Not licensed: MVPAI™ and the MVP Studios name and logo are trademarks and are not covered by the licence. Don't use them to suggest that MVP Studios runs or endorses your session.
The paid courses, MVPAI in a Week and the MVP Founders Programme, are not covered by this licence.
Based on Build with AI: First Steps by MVP Studios Ltd, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0). Adapted by [your organisation].
The certificate
Learners who finish can print a Certificate of Participation from /academy/first-steps/certificate/. They fill in their own name and a sentence about what they made (Lesson 5, step 5), then print it or save it as a PDF.
The certificate records participation, not assessment, and says so. You don't need to check or sign anything, though many groups like to hand certificates out together at the end. If learners have no printer, print them in the session or let them save the PDF for later.
For learners who want to go further, the certificate and the last lesson point to MVPAI in a Week, a five-day course that builds a working piece of software, and the MVP Founders Programme, twelve weeks to a product with real users.
Bring First Steps to your community.
Running it with your group? Tell us: we'd love to hear how it goes, and we can help with questions, adaptations and translations.
© 2026 MVP Studios Ltd. The Build with AI: First Steps course materials are free to use, print, translate and adapt for non-commercial training under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 licence: credit MVP Studios Ltd and share adaptations on the same terms. MVPAI™ and the MVP Studios name are trademarks and are not licensed. Course terms