X
CNET logo Why You Can Trust CNET

Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. If you buy through our links, we may get a commission. Reviews ethics statement

Amazon Web Services Wants to Teach You How to Use Generative AI

The service is offering a combination of free and paid courses on AI.

Zachary McAuliffe Staff writer
Zach began writing for CNET in November, 2021 after writing for a broadcast news station in his hometown, Cincinnati, for five years. You can usually find him reading and drinking coffee or watching a TV series with his wife and their dog.
Expertise Web hosting | Operating systems | Applications | Software Credentials
  • Apple software beta tester, "Helps make our computers and phones work!" - Zach's grandparents
Zachary McAuliffe
2 min read
AWS over a yellow crescent
Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile for Web Summit Rio via Getty Images

Amazon Web Services said Wednesday that it will offer seven new courses designed to help people understand and use the company's generative AI services. Amazon will offer most of the initial courses for free. The courses are intended for developers, business executives and anyone else interested in using AI.

The free courses include Amazon CodeWhisperer – Getting Started and Generative AI for Executives. Amazon said in an email to CNET that the self-paced CodeWhisperer course will teach people about the company's AI coding companion. They'll learn what CodeWhisperer is capable of, and will be able to start using it. 

Two women working on separate laptops

Anyone can take these courses through Amazon Web Services.

Getty Images

Generative AI for Executives is a collection of videos to introduce business executives to generative AI concepts and share how the technology can help address business challenges. 

The paid courses include the interactive course AWS Jam Journey – Build Using Amazon CodeWhisperer. This is a hands-on course designed to help development and operations professionals get practical experience with CodeWhisperer through a series of challenges.

Amazon's offering of these courses could be good both for the people taking the courses and for the company. By teaching people how to use its generative AI tool and introducing people to other tools like Amazon SageMaker, the company could give people a better grasp of how these tools work compared to what people would learn on their own. These courses could also draw more people and companies into Amazon's digital ecosystem as they become more comfortable using its tools. 

For more, check out how generative AI can help bring ideas to life, why some US senators called gen AI a "double-edged sword" and why some bank customers aren't happy with AI chatbots.

Editors' note: CNET is using an AI engine to help create some stories. For more, see this post.

Watch this: ChatGPT Creator Testifies Before Congress On AI Safety and Regulation