The Government launches the online course Elements of AI to promote the formation of citizens in Artificial Intelligence

The Government is launching the Elements of AI project in Spain, a free online course aimed at all citizens that offers training in the basics of Artificial Intelligence.

Elements of AI is a massive and open educational project (MOOC) in order to bring to the majority of the population possible knowledge and skills around Artificial Intelligence and its different applications. The course offers all citizens the possibility to train and get to know first-hand the functioning and opportunities offered by AI.

The initiative aims to ensure that 1% of European citizens have basic competences in this field. In the case of Spain, it will be carried out thanks to the academic support of the National University of Distance Education (UNED), which will provide 2 credits to the students who carry out the course. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation is currently in contact with all Spanish universities through the CRUE so that the course is eligible as a free choice activity and that university students can obtain credits for its completion.

The course is framed within the National Digital Skills Plan and of National Artificial Intelligence Strategy. Both are included in the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan –Components 19 and 16 and in the agenda Spain Digital 2025.

The course, which has an estimated duration of 50 hours, has six modules composed, in turn, of three sections. In them, there are interactive exercises with questions about the implications of AI in real everyday situations, as well as examples of problem solving that will allow people who study it to acquire skills to develop informed decision-making.

The course was originally launched and funded in 2018 by the Government of Finland as part of the Finnish Presidency of the Council of the European Union. It was designed by the University of Helsinki, in collaboration with the company Reaktor. It has subsequently been translated and extended with the support of the European Commission to all EU Member States, including Spain.

Since its inception, more than 650,000 people from over 170 countries have been part of AI Elements. Among the population that has participated in the course so far, about 40% are women, and 25% are over 45 years old. This data shows the great potential of the project in terms of closing digital gaps, one of the main objectives of Spain for a recovery based on a transversal and inclusive digitization.

The course is available on the following website: