Before you start · about 10 minutes

Before You Start

You need one thing before lesson one: an AI assistant you can open on your phone or your computer. Setting it up takes about ten minutes, and you will not be charged.

The idea

There are four well-known AI assistants. All four are free to use at the level this course needs. All four run in an ordinary web browser, on a phone or a computer. You need exactly one of them.

You are not making a lifelong decision here. Every lesson is written so it works with any of the four, and moving to a different one later costs you nothing but the minutes to sign up again.

The four, described plainly

Here is what each one is, who makes it, and where to find it.

Claude, made by Anthropic

Find it at claude.ai. Well regarded for careful, well-organized writing and for following instructions closely. The free version limits how much you can send in a day.

ChatGPT, made by OpenAI

Find it at chatgpt.com. The most widely used of the four, which means that if you ever search for help with it, there is a great deal of help to find. The free version limits how much you can send in a day.

Gemini, made by Google

Find it at gemini.google.com. If you already have a Google account — a Gmail address, an Android phone, YouTube — you are most of the way signed up already. It also connects to Google’s own mail and documents.

Copilot, made by Microsoft

Find it at copilot.microsoft.com. If you use a Windows computer, it may already be sitting on your taskbar, and it is built into Microsoft Word and Excel. It signs in with a Microsoft account.

Which one should you pick?

If you already have a Google account, Gemini is one less sign-up. If you use a Windows computer, Copilot is probably already there. If you mostly want help writing, many people prefer Claude. If you want the one your grandchildren have heard of, that is ChatGPT.

If none of that settles it, pick the first name you recognized and move on. Sitting on this choice will cost you more than choosing wrong.

The analogy

This is like choosing between four bank branches on the same street. They all cash the check. Walk into the one on the corner you already pass.

Making an account, click by click

  1. Open your web browser and type the address for the one you picked.
  2. Look for a button that says Sign up, Create account, or Get started. It will be near the top right of the page or in the middle of it.
  3. Choose how to sign in. You can normally use an email address and a new password, or sign in with a Google, Apple, or Microsoft account you already have. Using an account you already have means fewer steps and one less password to remember.
  4. If it sends you a code, look in your email or your phone’s text messages, and type the code in.
  5. If it asks your age, your name, or how you plan to use it, answer honestly.
  6. If it offers you a paid plan, look for the small link that says Maybe later, Skip, or Continue with the free plan. You do not need to pay for anything in this course.
  7. You should now be looking at a mostly empty page with a box near the bottom that invites you to ask something. That box is where all of this happens.

Put it where you can find it

If you have to hunt for it, you will not use it. Two minutes now saves you that.

On a computer

  1. With the page open, hold Ctrl and press D on Windows, or hold Command and press D on a Mac.
  2. A small box appears. Click Save or Done.
  3. The bookmark now sits along the top of your browser.

On an iPhone or iPad

  1. Open the page in Safari.
  2. Tap the share button at the bottom of the screen — a square with an arrow pointing up out of it.
  3. Scroll down the list and tap Add to Home Screen.
  4. Tap Add. It now has an icon on your home screen, the same as any other app.

On an Android phone

  1. Open the page in Chrome.
  2. Tap the three dots at the top right.
  3. Tap Add to Home screen, then Add.

One rule before you begin

Do not type anything into an AI assistant that you would not write on a postcard. No passwords, no Social Security number, no bank login, no card numbers. Lesson 6 covers this properly, with the reasons. Until then, the postcard rule will keep you out of trouble.

Try it now

About five minutes. Works on a phone.

  1. Open your AI assistant.
  2. Tap or click the box at the bottom, type this, and press Enter or the send arrow:

    Hello. I am new to this. In three short sentences, tell me what you are good at helping with.

  3. Read the answer.
  4. Type one more thing:

    Now name three things you are not good at.

  5. Read that one too. Notice that it answered a question about its own weaknesses without complaint or excuses. That willingness is something you will use in every lesson from here on.

If it goes sideways: the box you type in is at the very bottom of the screen, and it is usually the widest thing there. If you are asked to pay before you can type a single word, you are on the wrong page — go back and look for a link that says sign in or try it free. Nothing in this course needs a paid account.

Plain-English recap

  • One free assistant is all you need, and any of the four will carry you through this course.
  • Sign up, then put a shortcut on your phone’s home screen and a bookmark on your computer.
  • Nothing goes into a chat that you would not write on a postcard.

Next: what this thing actually is, and why it will sometimes tell you something wrong with a perfectly straight face.