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Awareness training · AI governance
AI literacy training: use generative AI well, safely and responsibly at work
Part of the ISO/IEC 42001:2023 learning path → Step 1
If your team already uses ChatGPT, Copilot or Gemini at work, and you have been asked to make sure they use it properly, this AI literacy training gives every employee the same clear rules in about two hours. Staff learn to get better answers, to check every output before they rely on it, and to keep client data, personal data and source code out of public tools.
It also covers the risks that now reach ordinary desks: answers that sound right but are made up, deepfake video calls asking for urgent payments, bias in AI-assisted HR work, copyright questions and when to disclose AI use. The course explains the AI literacy duty in Article 4 of the EU AI Act and ISO/IEC 42001, and follows RST Advisory, a professional services firm headquartered in New York with offices in London, Sydney, Mumbai and Manila.
AI literacy training teaches employees the skills, knowledge and understanding to use AI systems in an informed way and to be aware of their opportunities, risks and possible harm. In practice it covers how generative AI works, writing prompts, checking output, protecting data, spotting deepfake fraud, avoiding bias and following the organisation's AI policy.
Training a team? Get a quote for your organisation
Part of: AI Governance and ISO 42001 Training
Part of: Information Security & Privacy
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What you get
- 6 video modules
About 103 minutes, with captions. Watch at your own pace on any device.
- Practice after every module
Short questions check your understanding before you move on.
- Final exam
Multiple choice, with immediate retakes if you need them.
- Built by experts
Industry experts, domain specialist trainers and globally renowned auditors with 30+ years in ISO and GRC.
A certificate you can prove, and share
Verifiable certificate with a QR code anyone can scan, plus a digital badge to add to your LinkedIn profile.
See how verification works →Standard and editionEU AI Act Article 4 (AI literacy); ISO/IEC 42001:2023
Last updated31 October 2026
Why AI literacy matters now
Generative AI is already in everyday software, and the mistakes are no longer theoretical. Two cases show how quickly ordinary use turns into a serious incident.
In April 2023, engineers at Samsung uploaded internal source code to a public chat assistant. On 1 May 2023 the company restricted generative AI tools for staff in one of its biggest divisions, concerned that data sent to external servers is hard to retrieve and delete. The lesson for every employee: know what must never be pasted into a public tool.
In January 2024, a finance employee of a multinational in Hong Kong made 15 transfers totalling HK$200 million, about US$25.6 million, after a video call in which every other participant, including the UK-based chief financial officer, was a deepfake. The company, Arup, confirmed in May 2024 that fake voices and images were used. The lesson: verify a request through a separate channel before you act, however real the call looks.
Regulators expect organisations to act too. Under the EU AI Act, providers and deployers of AI systems must take measures to support the AI literacy of their staff.
Who this AI literacy training course is for
It is written for every employee who uses AI tools at work, in any role or industry, with no technical background needed.
- HR teams drafting job adverts and interview notes
- Finance teams handling invoice queries and month-end commentary
- Sales teams writing proposals and researching clients
- Customer service teams drafting replies and FAQs
- Managers and team leads who approve AI-assisted work
- Organisations rolling out an AI policy or building AI literacy across all staff, including those with EU clients
What you will learn
Each skill is shown in a real workplace moment at RST Advisory, with a different office as the setting in each module.
- Explain what AI and generative AI are, how they produce answers, and where they are strong and weak
- Write clear prompts and check AI output for facts, figures, sources and tone before you rely on it
- Recognise hallucinations and automation bias, and apply human oversight to AI-assisted work
- Keep customer data, personal data, source code and confidential documents out of public AI tools
- Spot deepfake and voice-cloning fraud, and verify requests before you act
- Use AI fairly and openly, in line with your organisation's AI policy and the EU AI Act's AI literacy duty
Course outline
Six video modules build from understanding to daily practice, followed by the final assessment.
- Module 1, Understanding AI and Generative AI: what AI is, how generative AI writes, the tools people use, and why AI literacy matters.
- Module 2, Using AI Tools Effectively at Work: writing a good prompt with role, task, context, format and limits, improving the answer, checking it and staying in charge.
- Module 3, AI Risks, Hallucinations and Human Oversight: why AI makes things up, real cases from a court and a tribunal, automation bias and human oversight.
- Module 4, Data Privacy, Confidentiality and Security: what never to paste into a public tool, safer ways to get help, and deepfake fraud.
- Module 5, Responsible AI, Bias and Ethical Use: bias, extra care with AI in HR, copyright and IP, and being open about AI use.
- Module 6, Workplace AI Policies and Practical Scenarios: what an AI policy covers, six scenarios from HR, finance, sales and customer service, and next steps.
- Module 7, Final Assessment and Certificate: the scenario-based exam and your certificate.
The AI literacy duty explained: EU AI Act Article 4 and ISO/IEC 42001
The EU AI Act, Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, defines AI literacy as the skills, knowledge and understanding that allow providers, deployers and affected persons to make an informed deployment of AI systems and to gain awareness of their opportunities, risks and possible harm. Article 4, the AI literacy article, has applied since 2 February 2025.
Article 4 was replaced in July 2026 by Regulation (EU) 2026/1744. As amended, providers and deployers must take measures to support the development of AI literacy of their staff; it does not require them to guarantee any specific level of AI literacy for any individual. A deployer is any person or body using an AI system under its authority, so an ordinary company whose staff use ChatGPT or Copilot for work can be one. The Act can also reach providers and deployers outside the EU where the output of an AI system is used in the EU, which is why the course asks learners to check with their legal team.
ISO/IEC 42001:2023, the AI management system standard, makes the same point in its own terms: clause 7.2 asks organisations to ensure the competence of people whose work affects AI performance, and clause 7.3 asks that people are aware of the AI policy and their part in it. The NIST AI Risk Management Framework, from the USA, is introduced as a further reference.
How the course works
The course is six on-demand video modules, about 2 hours of video in total, followed by the final assessment. You learn online, on any device, at your own pace. Each module ends with three practice questions so you can check your understanding.
The final exam is a scenario-based multiple-choice exam drawn from the course's question bank. Complete the course and its assessed final exam (pass mark 70%, one retake included) to receive the Sterling Academy Certificate of Completion.
What you can do after the course
The next time you open an AI tool at work, you will use it differently.
- Write a prompt that sets the role, task, context, format and limits, and improve the answer in a few rounds
- Check names, figures, quotations and sources before anything AI-assisted leaves your desk
- Decide what information can go into an approved tool and what must never go into a public one
- Stop and verify an urgent payment or data request that arrives by call, video or message
- Recognise when AI output could treat people unfairly, especially in hiring
- Follow your AI policy, disclose AI use where it matters and ask the right way to use a new tool
For teams and organisations
AI literacy works when everyone shares the same rules, so most organisations roll this course out to all staff. With a company plan, a client administrator adds employees, assigns the course and follows completion in progress reports, all on one invoice, which also gives you a record of the AI literacy measures you have taken. Training a team? Get a quote for your organisation.
Why Sterling Academy
Sterling Academy courses are built by industry experts, domain specialist trainers and globally renowned auditors with 30+ years in ISO and GRC. The Academy is the training arm of Sterling International Consulting, with 8,100+ client engagements in 60+ countries over 20+ years. Every course teaches the current text: here, the EU AI Act as amended in July 2026 and ISO/IEC 42001:2023.
Preview this course
Experience the learning
before you enrol.
Watch a sample from AI Literacy & Responsible Use of Generative AI before you enrol.
AI Literacy & Responsible Use of Generative AISample
Inside the course
A clear path through the essentials.
6 modules, 6 practice checkpoints and a final exam. Video runtimes are approximate; allow additional time for the practice questions and the final exam. Modules marked optional can be skipped; the others are studied in any order.
Part 1How generative AI works and how to prompt itApprox. 32 min
- Understanding AI and Generative AI14 min
What AI and generative AI are, how large language models predict words, what they do well and badly, and why AI literacy matters at work.
What this module covers
Opens with a short reflection on the AI tools you used this week and whether you checked their answers. Then the October 2025 case where Deloitte Australia agreed to refund the final payment on a government report of about A$440,000, after it was found to contain a quotation and research papers that did not exist. Explains AI as a machine-based system that infers its output, the difference between predictive AI at a Melbourne retailer and generative AI at a Chicago law firm, and why fluent answers are not always true. Introduces RST Advisory, a professional services firm of about 1,200 staff with offices from New York to Manila. Shows why the EU AI Act, ISO/IEC 42001 and your organisation expect AI literacy, and closes with a recap: the tool drafts, you decide.
What you will be able to do
- Explain in plain words how generative AI produces its answers
- Tell predictive AI from generative AI with a workplace example
- Explain why the EU AI Act and ISO/IEC 42001 expect AI literacy
Why it matters
A fluent, confident answer can still be wrong; knowing how the tools work helps you decide when to trust them.
Practice: Practice: Understanding AI and Generative AI · 3 questions
- Using AI Tools Effectively at Work18 min
How to write effective prompts for ChatGPT, Copilot and Gemini at work, refine the answer, and check AI output before you use it.
What this module covers
Begins in RST Advisory's London office, where a sales manager's one-line prompt returns a generic proposal with a discount the firm never offered. Compares a one-line prompt with one that gives the tool a role, a task, the context, a format and clear limits, and shows her second attempt. Works through examples across teams: a weekly client update at a Dublin architecture firm, a hotel poster in Cebu, a tariff reply in Pune, quotes at a Melbourne council and a market briefing in Madrid. Covers treating the tool as a conversation, then checking facts, names, sources, tone and anything confidential, as a claims handler in Boston does on every letter. Shows why the check matters at a software company in Bengaluru and a hospital in Frankfurt, and closes with a recap: prompt well, check always.
What you will be able to do
- Write a prompt with a role, task, context, format and limits
- Refine an AI answer through follow-up prompts
- Check AI output for facts, names, sources, tone and confidential data
Why it matters
A vague prompt makes the tool guess; a clear one gives you a usable first draft that you still check and finish.
Practice: Practice: Using AI Tools Effectively at Work · 3 questions
Part 2Hallucinations, responsibility and human oversightApprox. 17 min
- AI Risks, Hallucinations and Human Oversight17 min
Why generative AI hallucinates, two real legal cases on who is responsible, automation bias, and how human oversight of AI works in practice.
What this module covers
Opens in RST Advisory's Sydney office, where a tax consultant receives a confident answer quoting a tax ruling whose reference number belongs to a different ruling. Explains why AI tools make things up, using NIST's description of confabulation and the risk of made-up citations. Covers a court in New York and a tribunal in Canada that held the people and the organisation responsible, not the tool. Shows the trap of trusting automation across teams, from an HR adviser in Dublin and an analyst in Hyderabad to contract summaries in Seattle and a bank chatbot in Chicago. Then walks through human oversight on a client letter in the Sydney office: checking against official sources, review and sign-off by accountable people, and reporting concerns. Closes with a recap: verify before you rely.
What you will be able to do
- Explain why generative AI produces false content with confidence
- Check an AI answer against an official source before using it
- Report a concern about AI output so it is fixed for others
Why it matters
Courts have held people, not tools, responsible for AI errors; checking before you rely protects you and your clients.
Practice: Practice: AI Risks, Hallucinations and Human Oversight · 3 questions
Part 3Data, ethics and your workplace AI policyApprox. 53 min
- Data Privacy, Confidentiality and Security18 min
AI data privacy and confidentiality at work: what never to paste into public AI tools, approved business accounts, and deepfake voice and video fraud.
What this module covers
Begins in RST Advisory's Mumbai office, where a finance assistant nearly pastes a payroll file of two thousand employees into a chat assistant on his personal phone. Sets out six kinds of information that never go into a public AI tool, from customer and personal data to source code, passwords and unpublished financial results. Covers the April 2023 Samsung source code leak and RST's rule that ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot are approved only on business accounts. Shows four safer ways to get help, with a developer in Pune and an HR officer in Melbourne. Then explains how criminals fake voices and faces, with the January 2024 case in a Hong Kong office and a call to a finance clerk in Chicago, and what to do: pause, call back on a known number, get a second approval and report. Closes with a recap: if in doubt, keep it out.
What you will be able to do
- Identify the six kinds of information that stay out of public AI tools
- Use approved AI tools within your organisation's policy limits
- Verify a suspicious voice or video request before acting on it
Why it matters
One paste can send client and personal data outside your control; knowing the limits keeps a slip from becoming an incident.
Practice: Practice: Data Privacy, Confidentiality and Security · 3 questions
- Responsible AI, Bias and Ethical Use18 min
Responsible and ethical use of AI at work: bias in AI CV screening, care in HR, copyright of AI content, disclosure and a simple ethics test.
What this module covers
Opens in RST Advisory's Manila office, where a recruiter thinks of asking a chat assistant to rank four hundred CVs for twenty interview slots. Covers the October 2024 University of Washington study of three language models, which favoured white-associated names 85% of the time, and explains carefully what it does and does not show. Looks at where bias creeps into everyday work, from a recruitment poster in Madrid to a photo pasted in by a hiring manager in Chicago and loan summaries in Dublin. Explains what the EU AI Act says about HR uses, and why people decide on people, as a recruitment company in Paris does. Covers copyright for what goes in and what comes out, with examples from Brisbane and Pune, and being open about AI use. Closes with a recap and the test: fair, open and accountable.
What you will be able to do
- Recognise how AI can repeat unfair patterns in hiring decisions
- Check outcomes across groups when AI informs a decision about people
- Explain when to disclose AI use and how to respect copyright
Why it matters
A neat, confident ranking can hide unfair treatment; knowing where bias creeps in helps you keep decisions about people fair.
Practice: Practice: Responsible AI, Bias and Ethical Use · 3 questions
- Workplace AI Policies and Practical Scenarios17 min
What a workplace AI policy covers under ISO/IEC 42001, how to apply it in practical scenarios from every team, and the final assessment.
What this module covers
Returns to RST Advisory's head office in New York, where the managing partner has approved a twelve-page AI policy and wants everyone to understand it. Covers the main parts of a workplace AI policy: approved tools and accounts, what data may go in, uses that need approval, and the safeguards for checking, disclosing, recording and reporting. Explains what ISO/IEC 42001 asks of top management and its Annex A controls for a policy on AI use, and contrasts a forty-page policy in Amsterdam with training given once in Melbourne. Then works through practical scenarios across RST's offices, including London, Mumbai, the Manila client service desk, a prospect in Chicago and a client in Berlin, plus a paralegal in Delhi. Closes with a three-line recap of the course and the final assessment.
What you will be able to do
- Describe the rules and safeguards a workplace AI policy contains
- Apply your AI policy to everyday scenarios in your own team
- Explain what ISO/IEC 42001 asks of an AI policy
Why it matters
A policy nobody reads protects no one; working through real scenarios shows what the rules mean in your own job.
Practice: Practice: Workplace AI Policies and Practical Scenarios · 3 questions
Frequently asked questions
Your questions,
answered.
About AI Literacy & Responsible Use of Generative AI, its certificate and enrolment.
Ask SterlingIs Sterling Academy a good choice for EU AI Act training?
Yes. Sterling Academy's EU AI Act training is built by the Sterling consulting group, which has taken organisations to certification across 8,100+ client engagements in 60+ countries over 20+ years. It is always on the current edition, with practice questions that show the right answer. Each course ends with a final exam and a verifiable certificate that anyone can check online, plus a LinkedIn badge, and client administrators can show an auditor exactly who has been trained. You will understand what EU AI Act asks of you, contribute to your organisation's implementation and audit readiness, and play your part with confidence when the auditor visits. Sterling Academy courses carry the same content as Sterling's classroom training, whose certificates are trusted and accepted by all major certification bodies, as evidence of training at client audits for over 20 years.
What is AI literacy training?
AI literacy training gives employees the skills and understanding to use AI tools in an informed and responsible way. This course covers how generative AI works, writing prompts, checking output, protecting confidential data, spotting deepfake fraud, bias, copyright, disclosure and following your organisation's AI policy, in about 2 hours of video.
Is AI literacy training mandatory under the EU AI Act?
The Act requires action, not a specific course. Under Article 4 as amended in July 2026, providers and deployers of AI systems must take measures to support the AI literacy of their staff. Training all staff is a practical way to do that, and the Act can reach organisations outside the EU whose AI output is used in the EU.
Who needs AI literacy training?
Every employee who uses AI tools at work needs it. That includes HR, finance, sales and customer service teams, managers who approve AI-assisted work, and organisations building AI literacy across all staff. No technical knowledge is needed; the course is written for everyday users.
How long does the AI literacy training course take?
The course is about 2 hours of video in six modules, followed by the final assessment. You learn online, on any device, at your own pace, so staff can take a module at a time between other work. Each module ends with three practice questions.
Which AI tools does the course cover?
It uses the tools people already know as examples: ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini and Perplexity, plus image features in ChatGPT, Copilot and Canva. The course does not rank or endorse any tool; each organisation decides which tools it approves, and the skills apply to any of them.
What is an AI hallucination?
An AI hallucination is confidently stated content that is false, which NIST calls confabulation. It happens because language models predict the next word rather than look up facts. Module 3 shows real cases from a court and a tribunal and teaches the habit of verifying before you rely on any output.
What is the difference between AI literacy and ISO/IEC 42001 training?
AI literacy training is for every employee who uses AI, while ISO/IEC 42001 training is for the people who build and run an AI management system. This course covers the 42001 competence and awareness points that apply to all staff; implementation and audit courses go further.
Does the course cover deepfake and voice-cloning fraud?
Yes, Module 4 covers it in detail. It explains how fraudsters use cloned voices and deepfake video calls to push urgent payments or data requests, walks through the Hong Kong case from January 2024, and teaches simple verification habits, such as checking through a separate channel, before anyone acts.
Do I get a certificate?
Yes, you receive the Sterling Academy Certificate of Completion when you complete the course and take the scenario-based multiple-choice final exam, which is assessed with a pass mark of 70%. One retake is included if your first attempt does not meet the mark. Employers can keep the certificates as part of their record of AI literacy measures for staff.
How much does AI literacy training cost?
The course costs US$19 per learner. That includes all six video modules, the practice questions, the final exam with one retake and the Certificate of Completion. For a whole team or company, contact us for a quote for your organisation.
Can my whole company take this training course?
Yes, through a company plan. A client administrator adds employees, assigns the course and follows completion in progress reports, with one invoice. This also gives you a record of the AI literacy measures you have taken for your staff. Contact us for a quote for your organisation.
Your certificate
Prove what you learned.
Share it with confidence.
You will understand what EU AI Act asks of you, contribute to your organisation's implementation and audit readiness, and play your part with confidence when the auditor visits. Your certificate can be verified online in seconds, so certification body auditors, employers and clients can confirm your training instantly.
Complete the course and its final exam and you receive a Sterling Academy Certificate of Completion, verifiable online by QR code, with a LinkedIn badge to share.
- Pass mark
- 70%
- Prerequisites
- None
Sterling Academy courses carry the same content as Sterling's classroom training, whose certificates are trusted and accepted by all major certification bodies, as evidence of training at client audits for over 20 years.
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