Free starter guide: your first conversation with an AI assistant

What you need

• A phone, tablet or computer you already use.
• An email address.
• About fifteen minutes when you will not be interrupted.

You do not need to pay anything to try an AI assistant. Several common services, such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini and Microsoft Copilot, have free versions. Some offer paid upgrades – you never have to choose one to get started.

Step 1: Choose one assistant

Pick one and stick with it for a while. It is easier to learn one tool well than to try several at once. If you already have a Google or Microsoft account, starting with that company's assistant means one login less.

Download the app only from your phone's official app store, or go to the service's website by typing the address yourself. Be careful with ads and links in emails that offer "AI apps".

Step 2: Set it up safely

• Sign in with your own account and a password you do not use anywhere else.
• Look for the settings for chat history. You can usually choose whether your conversations are saved.
• Decide now that you will never write personal numbers, bank codes or passwords in the chat.

Step 3: Ask three first questions

Copy these one at a time and see what happens:

• "I am new to AI assistants. In plain words, what can you help me with in everyday life?"
• "Explain what a heat pump is, as if I have never heard of it." (Change the topic to anything you are curious about.)
• "Help me write a short, friendly message to a friend to suggest coffee next week."

Read each answer calmly. If something is unclear, simply write "Can you explain that more simply?" The assistant will not get tired of you.

Three things to remember

• The assistant can be wrong. It sounds confident even when it is not. Check important facts – about health, money or laws – with an official source.
• You are in charge. You can ask for shorter answers, another tone or a new attempt as many times as you like.
• Keep private things private. Replace names and numbers with words like NAME before you paste a text.

What next?

The first lesson of our course takes this further, at the same calm pace. It is free and needs no account.