Table of Contents
Elements of AI is a series of free online AI courses created by MinnaLearn and the University of Helsinki, with over 2 million people signed up and graduates in more than 170 countries. There are two parts, Introduction to AI and Building AI, and both are free to study with no application, no entry requirement and no closing date.
Reading the official course pages and the full FAQ directly turns up two things that almost no coverage of this course states correctly. Only one of the two certificates is free: Introduction to AI’s is, in the provider’s words, “free of charge”, while the Building AI certificate costs 50 euros including VAT. And you can get real university ECTS credits free of charge from the University of Helsinki Open University — the most valuable thing here — but the credit registration is gated behind Finnish or European electronic identification, which is where most international learners get stuck.
Key Highlights
| Feature | Details |
| Course Name | Elements of AI — two courses: Introduction to AI (Part 1) and Building AI (Part 2) |
| Provider | MinnaLearn (previously Reaktor Education) and the University of Helsinki, Finland. Lead instructor: Professor Teemu Roos |
| Cost of the Courses | Free — both parts, with no payment and no card required to study |
| Introduction to AI Certificate | Free of charge. Digital only, issued in the language you took the course in |
| Building AI Certificate | 50 euros including VAT, if applicable. A purchase, not included in the free course |
| ECTS Credits | Free of charge via University of Helsinki Open University. Introduction to AI: 2 ECTS. Building AI: 1 ECTS with Intermediate honors or 2 ECTS with Advanced honors, 2 ECTS maximum in total |
| Credit Restriction | Available only for the Global, Finnish or Swedish version, and registration requires strong electronic authentication |
| Duration — Introduction to AI | 6 chapters, 25 exercises. “Approximately 4-8 hours to finish each part of the course”. No single total is published |
| Duration — Building AI | Approximately 50 hours, across 5 chapters and 21 exercises |
| Deadline | None. Rolling enrolment. A 6-week finish is recommended, not enforced |
| Prerequisites | None for either course. Introduction to AI needs no programming but does require some basic maths. Building AI recommends Part 1 first, but does not require it |
| Programming | Introduction to AI: none. Building AI: none at Beginner level; Python at Intermediate and Advanced |
| Nationality | No restriction — open worldwide, including Pakistan and India |
| Age or Academic Requirement | None published |
| Format | Self-paced text and exercises. No video lectures, nothing scheduled |
| Enrol At | course.elementsofai.com (Part 1) and buildingai.elementsofai.com (Part 2) |
Detail description
The University of Helsinki describes itself as the oldest and largest institution of academic education in Finland, operating since 1640, and its MOOC Center runs its open online courses. MinnaLearn, previously Reaktor Education, built the courses with it; the lead instructor is Professor Teemu Roos. The provider states the course is part of the AI Education programme of the Finnish Center for AI, and it began as a national effort to teach the basics of AI to 1 per cent of Finland’s population before being offered in EU languages.
The scale is unusual for a free course: over 2 million students signed up, graduates in more than 170 countries, and about 40 per cent of participants women, which the provider notes is more than double the average for computer science courses.
One clarification, because the names are close. MinnaLearn also sells a paid corporate product called Get AI Ready. That is a separate commercial offering — Elements of AI itself is free, and nothing on this page refers to the paid product.
Courses
Part 1: Introduction to AI
The provider describes it as covering “what AI is, what is possible (and not possible) with AI, and how it affects our lives – with no complicated math or programming required”, across 6 chapters and 25 exercises:
- Chapter 1: What is AI? — how to define AI, related fields, the philosophy of AI
- Chapter 2: AI problem solving — search and problem solving, solving problems with AI, search and games
- Chapter 3: Real world AI — odds and probability, the Bayes rule, naive Bayes classification
- Chapter 4: Machine learning — types of machine learning, the nearest neighbour classifier, regression
- Chapter 5: Neural networks — neural network basics, how neural networks are built, advanced techniques
- Chapter 6: Implications — predicting the future, the societal implications of AI, summary
Part 2: Building AI
Part 2 covers “the actual algorithms that make creating AI methods possible”, at a stated level of Basic Understanding and approximately 50 hours, across 5 chapters and 21 exercises:
- Chapter 1: Getting started with AI — why AI matters, optimization, hill climbing
- Chapter 2: Dealing with uncertainty — probability fundamentals, the Bayes rule, naive Bayes classifier
- Chapter 3: Machine learning — linear regression, the nearest neighbour method, working with text, overfitting
- Chapter 4: Neural networks — logistic regression, from logistic regression to neural networks, deep learning
- Chapter 5: Conclusion — summary, your own AI idea, and the AI idea gallery
The final chapter is worth planning for: the course ends with you crafting your own AI idea and presenting it to the community, which is a more useful portfolio artefact than any certificate.
Cost and Certificate
| Item | Introduction to AI | Building AI |
| Course content | Free | Free |
| Certificate | Free of charge | 50 euros including VAT, if applicable |
| Certificate format | Digital only, in the language you took the course in | Digital and shareable, on your profile page |
| When you can claim it | After your answers are processed and confirmed | Purchasable at any time, but you must also pass to receive it |
| Honors upgrade | Not applicable | Can be upgraded without extra cost if you later complete harder exercises |
| Payment methods | Not applicable | Visa or MasterCard. In Finland also MobilePay or Finnish e-banking |
| Proof of payment | Not applicable | A receipt link on your profile page. The provider states it does not issue invoices |
| ECTS credits | Free — 2 ECTS | Free — 1 or 2 ECTS by honors level |
One warning from the provider’s own FAQ is worth acting on: do not promise the certificate to anyone by a fixed date. Introduction to AI depends on peer review, answers need enough reviews before they clear, and low-scoring ones are checked manually — so the provider recommends “avoiding making a commitment to present the certificate to a third party by a certain deadline”. If you need it for an application, finish well ahead of when you need it.
Free ECTS Credits
Complete the Global, Finnish or Swedish version and you can apply for an academic transcript with recorded ECTS credits, free of charge, through the University of Helsinki Open University:
- Introduction to AI — 2 ECTS
- Building AI — 1 ECTS with Intermediate honors, or 2 ECTS with Advanced honors, to a maximum of 2
- Beginner level earns no credits, and the academic transcript is not available for that level of completion either
The gate is identification. The provider states that “the registration process requires strong authentication because you will gain access to university services”, names the Finnish Suomi.fi service and European identification (eIDAS), and warns: “If you cannot use strong e-authentication, the authentication process may take several weeks.”
The Open University’s own enrollment page is broader. It says registration requires “Strong e-Authentication (Suomi.fi service) or identification by using official ID (passport or ID card)”, carries a section headed When Strong E-Authentication is Not Possible, and tells anyone without online banking credentials or a mobile certificate to contact its advising service. It also notes that registration practices for open online courses differ from its general ones.
The route that works from anywhere. The provider publishes official course descriptions for both courses precisely so you can apply for credits at your own university instead. If you study in Pakistan, India or anywhere outside the EU, this is the realistic path: finish the course, download the free certificate, and take the official course description to your institution’s credit transfer office. Many universities will consider a documented MOOC from a recognised European university. None will consider a screenshot. The same approach is worth trying with other university-run courses, such as the MIT free online courses, though few publish a formal course description the way Helsinki does.
Eligibility
- No application, selection, fee, age limit, nationality rule or academic requirement is published for either course. You create an account and start
- No prior AI knowledge — the provider states the course is designed so that no pre-existing knowledge beyond basic maths is expected
- Some basic maths for Part 1, Python for the harder half of Part 2. The provider is specific about Introduction to AI: “No programming, but some math is required. It won’t be advanced math” — and some exercises require pen and paper. In Building AI, only the Intermediate and Advanced levels involve Python
The restriction that actually excludes people
It is not an eligibility rule but the authentication requirement for ECTS credits covered above: anyone in the world can take these courses and claim the free Part 1 certificate, while registering the free credits depends on Finnish or European electronic identification. The language edition is the second restriction — credits exist only for the Global, Finnish and Swedish versions. If credits matter, take the Global version.
What You Need — Device, Browser and Skills
| Requirement | What the provider states |
| Introduction to AI device | Can be completed with a computer or a mobile device |
| Building AI device | Beginner exercises work on mobile. Intermediate and Advanced programming exercises need a computer |
| Software to install | None. All programming exercises run in the browser |
| Browsers to avoid | Internet Explorer is not recommended, and the platform does not work with the Mullvad browser. Building AI does not work optimally on older iPad models, Internet Explorer or Safari |
| Internet | Required, but demands are low — the material is text and links, with no video lectures |
| Language of study | Multiple editions. Global, Finnish or Swedish if you want ECTS credits |
| English test | No test, and no admission process to require one. The provider publishes no language requirement — you create an account and start |
How to Enrol — Step by Step
Step 1: Pick your version before you create the account
At elementsofai.com, choose your country or language edition. If there is any chance you will want the free ECTS credits, choose Global. Switching the language of Introduction to AI later resets your exercises, so decide once.
Step 2: Create your account on Part 1
Sign up at course.elementsofai.com. Use an email address you will keep, because it becomes your course ID if you later register for credits.
Step 3: Work through the 6 chapters at your own pace
The provider recommends finishing within 6 weeks, and is open about why: “in our experience, having a deadline makes it more likely students will finish the course”. It is not a limit — if you sign up for the 6-week version and do not finish, your progress stays available.
Step 4: Do the peer reviews as you go
Exercises 4, 15, 23, 24 and 25 are peer evaluated: you must give at least 3 reviews on each and receive at least 2. Leaving them to the end is the single most common way people lose the certificate.
Step 5: Claim the free certificate
Once your answers are processed and confirmed, the certificate appears at the top of your My Profile page, free of charge. Check your name displays correctly before clicking Download certificate — fixing it afterwards means a support request.
Step 6: Decide on Part 2 and on credits
Move to buildingai.elementsofai.com for the technical half, free to study whether or not you buy its certificate. For credits, log in to the University of Helsinki MOOC profile with the same email, or enrol through Sisu if you are a Helsinki degree student.
Passing Requirements and the Peer Review Trap
There is no exam and no grading curve, but the thresholds are precise and nothing warns you about them while you work.
| Course | To pass |
| Introduction to AI | Complete at least 90% of the exercises and get 50% of them right. Correctness is the average across all completed exercises, each weighted equally. Valid text answers count as 100% correct |
| Introduction to AI — peer exercises | Exercises 4, 15, 23, 24, 25 count as completed only when you have given at least 3 reviews and received at least 2 with a high enough score |
| Building AI | Complete at least 19 of the 21 exercises and answer 50% of those correctly. Each exercise has three difficulty options, and doing any one level counts as completing it |
| Building AI — Intermediate honors | 19 exercises completed, with at least 14 at Intermediate level or higher |
| Building AI — Advanced honors | 19 exercises completed, with at least 14 at Advanced level |
The honors level is not cosmetic: it decides whether Building AI is worth 1 ECTS or 2, and Beginner earns none. Aim for Intermediate or Advanced from Chapter 1 rather than discovering that at the end.
Falling short is recoverable. The provider will reset your course progress on request by email, and your completed peer-reviewed answers are preserved so you need not redo them. One condition: resets follow an unsuccessful attempt at the whole course, meaning once you have reached at least 90% of exercises completed, rather than applying to single chapters.
Also Check
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. Is Elements of AI really free, and is the certificate free too?
The courses are free. One of the two certificates is. The Introduction to AI certificate is free of charge; the Building AI certificate costs 50 euros including VAT where applicable, so its content is free but the shareable certificate is a purchase. ECTS credits are free of charge for both.
2. When can I enrol in Elements of AI, and is there a deadline?
Any time, and there is no deadline. Enrolment is continuous, with no application and no closing date. The provider recommends finishing within 6 weeks because a deadline helps people complete, but it is not enforced — if you sign up for the 6-week Introduction to AI course and do not finish, your progress stays available.
3. Who can take Elements of AI — is it open to students in Pakistan and India?
Yes. No nationality, age or academic requirement is published for either course, and the provider reports graduates from over 170 countries. The only part not equally open to everyone is registering the ECTS credits, which needs Finnish or European electronic identification.
4. How do I enrol in Elements of AI 2027?
Create a free account at course.elementsofai.com — that is the whole process. Building AI is at buildingai.elementsofai.com and can be taken separately. Pick your language version on elementsofai.com first, and choose Global if you may want credits, because switching the language of Introduction to AI later resets your exercises.
5. Can I get real university credits for Elements of AI, and what is the catch?
Yes, free of charge, with one significant catch. The University of Helsinki Open University can record 2 ECTS for Introduction to AI and 1 or 2 ECTS for Building AI on an academic transcript, at no cost. But registration requires strong electronic authentication — Suomi.fi or European eIDAS — and the provider warns that without it the process “may take several weeks”. The official ECTS page’s browser title also reads “Finland only” while its heading and body do not. Email elementsofai@helsinki.fi to confirm your case, or take the official course description to your own university instead.
6. Do I need programming or maths for Elements of AI?
No programming for Part 1, but you do need some basic maths. The provider states: “No programming, but some math is required. It won’t be advanced math”, and notes some exercises need pen and paper — so pages claiming this course needs no maths at all are overstating it. In Building AI, Beginner is multiple choice, Intermediate needs some Python, and Advanced expects fluency in it.
7. How long does Elements of AI take to complete?
Building AI is approximately 50 hours, stated directly by the provider. For Introduction to AI no single total is published — the wording is “approximately 4-8 hours to finish each part of the course”, across 6 chapters and 25 exercises, with some exercises taking up to 45 minutes. Both are self-paced with no video lectures.
8. Why have I finished the course but not received my certificate?
Almost always the peer reviews. Exercises 4, 15, 23, 24 and 25 need 3 reviews given on each and 2 received; until both hold, those exercises are incomplete and you sit below the 90% completion threshold. Review timing is outside your control and low-scoring answers are checked manually, which is why the provider advises against promising the certificate by a fixed date.
9. What happens if I fail Elements of AI?
You can ask for a reset and try again. The provider resets course progress on request by email, and your completed peer-reviewed answers are preserved. Building AI’s programming exercises are not reset either, since those can be resubmitted freely. Resets follow an unsuccessful attempt at the whole course rather than applying to individual chapters.
Final Thoughts
Elements of AI is one of the few free online courses where the credential is worth more than the course. Plenty of companies will give you a badge for an afternoon’s work — the Google AI free courses are a good example of that model, and a useful one. A 2 ECTS academic transcript from the University of Helsinki, free of charge, is a different kind of document, and the Introduction to AI certificate costs nothing either.
What the coverage gets wrong is the money, in both directions. It is more generous than most free courses, because the credits are genuinely free. It is also less free than advertised, because the Building AI certificate is 50 euros and the credit registration sits behind electronic identification many international learners cannot satisfy. Decide which of the two you are after before you start, and pick the Global version if credits are any part of the answer.
If you take one thing from this page, make it the peer reviews: more people lose the free certificate to exercises 4, 15, 23, 24 and 25 than to any wrong answer. Verify every detail on the official Elements of AI FAQ before you count on it.
