I tried the free training on Microsoft AI skills, and you can also – for a few more weeks

I know you have heard of gamification, but have you ever heard of festiation? This is what Microsoft did last month and continues until May 28, with the Microsoft Ai Skills Fest. It's a bit strange, but it also seems that it is a lot of fun. And you are still three full weeks to participate.

Free AI training for everyone

Microsoft's AI Skills Fest offers lessons open at all skill levels. You can learn the first stages of lessons if you are new in AI, or work on deeper subjects if you are more familiar with the concepts of AI. Although there are learning levels, it is packed as a single experience. You can cross a part or all of the lessons as part of a unified course.

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Courses are available in Albanian, Arabic, Portuguese Brazilian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese Macedonian, Slovenian, Spanish, Thai, Thai Ukrainian and Vietnamese.

Unfortunately, the conversational klingon is not proposed.

But there is much more, including hackathons, rhythm learning, challenges, community forums and meetings, and even (is it really a surprise?) An opportunity for Microsoft's partners to launch their training linked to AI and their related goods.

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For those who start with AI, there are lessons like Use of AI for daily tasks. This lesson will help you “understand generative AI and identify the means to use AI at home and at work. Write effective prompts and find useful resources”.

As an example of the most advanced subjects, you can Follow a Microsoft fabric courseMicrosoft data analysis platform. The challenge helps you prepare for DP-700 certification. During skills holidays, the course is free, but if you want to become certified, it is something you will have to pay Apart from the skills holiday environment, and it's about $ 165.

Register

Register at Microsoft AI SKILLS FEST registration page. It is a free training on a hot topic of a very respected company, so it is really worth checking.

Price and discounts

If you don't want to pay certifications, you might be lucky. If you enter the Microsoft Ai Skills Fest Challenge Salongers (Another name that I could not catch up), you could win one of the 50,000 free certification vouchers allocated during weekly drawings.

Github offers a 50% reduction code for the new GitHub certification exam, Github Copilot. Once you have finished the Github Learn module, you will receive a reduction code, which will be valid until May 28, 2025. To make sure you don't do end the examination June 30, 2025.

My experiences with Fest skills

I dug a few classes. When you register, you will get a long list of courses and training. I looked at three. I started with Minecraft Education – AI Adventurers Because my friends say that I have the maturity of a 12 year old child. It was a short series of videos. All were charming and very well suited to children. If you have a child and want to explain AI, it's an excellent starting point.

The next step was Build applications with the GitHub Copilot agent mode. This is a 45-minute YouTube video that takes you to the complete development process for the fitness tracker application using the new agent of GitHub Copilot.

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The presenter Microsoft, Chris Nring, showed the agent mode and demonstrated the creation of the application using the VS code in the GitHub codes. I really liked the way he went through more than the AI ​​process and integrated it into React, Django and a Mongodb database. Very informative, all in about 45 minutes.

The third class I followed was AI for organizational leadersProduced by LinkedIn Learning. You may not be able to access it unless you come via your LinkedIn account or the skills festival.

It is a quick class of 57 minutes on the details of AI technology, the commercial implications of the generative AI, where AI is part of your commercial strategy, and a very important section on the traps, concerns and limits of AI technology. Each of the five main chapters is punctuated by a short quiz, and there is a final exam of 10 questions. The result is a nice certificate, suitable for framing. I did not pay any costs to obtain the certificate, which is also cool.

An interesting note is that many of the courses and training courses listed at skill festivals are not closed, so you can do them even after the end of the skills festival. The Minecraft series, for example, is accessible by anyone with the link, just like the Github YouTube video.

A world record Guinness

Microsoft started the Skills Fest event in April with a big goal: to win a world record. And They did it too. The previous holder for the title of “most users to take an artificial intelligence lesson online online in 24 hours” was Guvi Geek Private Network limited with the government of Uttar Pradesh, India, which fired 46,045 online participants.

Microsoft and all skills party participants beat this with a total of 126,151 participants. Jeana Jorgensen, company vice-president, Microsoft Learning said: “The file is a tribute to each person who is investing their time and energy to learn a new competence in AI or help others build their expertise in AI.”

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Are you planning to register for the AI ​​skills party? Are there IA skills you want to improve? Let us know in the comments below.

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