After seeing engagement from more than 7,500 participants earlier this year, USF's
popular microcourse is back just in time for summer and already proving popular once
again.
USF's AI Whisperer: A Microcourse in Crafting Prompts is available until Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. Registration is free, and the course
takes approximately three to four hours to complete. Designed for everyone from lifelong
learners to business professionals to the simply curious, the presentations and activities
were shaped by participant feedback and a growing demand for applied AI learning.
No technical background is required, and the self-paced format makes it easy to fit
into almost any schedule.
The program was developed through a collaboration between USF Innovative Education
and AI faculty experts at the USF Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing.
"When more than 7,500 people participated in the first course, that told us everything
we needed to know," said Christine Brown, associate vice president of USF Innovative
Education. "The community didn't just want to learn about AI, they wanted to roll
up their sleeves and practice the prompting skills that actually get results. Bringing
AI Whisperer back for a second run was an easy call, and this round reflects the feedback
we got from that first group, so it's even stronger. The early interest we're already
seeing proves there's still real demand. If you didn't get to it the first time, this
is your window."
Why Should I Learn about Prompting?
Strong prompting helps you work faster, think more clearly and get usable results
on the first try. As AI continues to reshape the workplace, the skills employers are
looking for are evolving rapidly. PwC's 2025 AI job barometer study found that skills
sought in AI-exposed occupations are changing 66% faster than in jobs less affected
by AI.
The World Economic Forum and other workforce studies consistently highlight AI literacy
and human-AI collaboration as essential skills for the near future. A recent survey
of more than 1,000 respondents found that 85% of American workers believe AI prompting
will be an important career skill within the next five years. That shift is already
underway, and this is your chance to move with it.
AI Whisperer provides a hands-on experience by guiding participants through selecting
the right AI tools, crafting effective prompts and producing polished outputs for
reports, presentations and visuals.
Who Should Take a Course on AI Prompting?
Faculty experts agree that learning to prompt effectively is one of the biggest hurdles
for those new to AI.
"I've been giving a lot of talks on AI in the past year or so,” said John Licato, associate professor in the USF Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing. “And, almost every single time I give one of those talks, it's, 'Hey, how can we find out more? How can we get information? Stay up to date?' And the answer used to be the AI [Whisperer] course. We've gotten so much positive feedback from the original release of this course.”
Associate Professor John Licato gives a presentation on AI for his online course.
When asked whether demand remains strong, Licato added: "Yeah, absolutely. People
find it valuable. They want something they can access for free, watch and figure out
from it what the next steps are. This is a service that's gotten a lot of good feedback,
so I think it was important that we re-released it."
The difference was immediate for Jacob McQuain, an accounting professional at USF
Advancement. McQuain completed the AI Whisperer microcourse during its first run in
spring, and purchased the digital badge to showcase his new skills on his professional
profile.
“Most AI courses just sit you down and talk at you,” he said. “This one actually puts
you in the driver's seat.
"It helped me in a way that genuinely stuck. I’ve been using those prompting skills
a lot for brainstorming and strategizing at my job. There are a few manual accounting
processes that we’ve used for a long time. They work, but as we’ve grown, we need
to be able to do things faster while staying accurate. Prompting for idea generation
has been so helpful for someone like me on a small team who has a lot of details to
keep track of. We’ve even started the plan for building an agent that’ll act as an
internal FAQ chatbot."
Jacob McQuain, an accounting professional at USF Advancement, puts the prompting skills he gained through the AI Whisperer microcourse into practice.
The AI Whisperer microcourse is free, online and self-paced now through Sept. 30,
2026. Participants who complete the course may purchase the $39 digital badge to display
on professional platforms such as LinkedIn. LinkedIn's 2026 Talent Velocity Advantage
Report found that 89% of talent leaders are concerned about skills agility, or the
ability to deliver the right skills at the right time, underscoring the growing importance
of continuous learning and upskilling.
The microcourse is free. The skills are real. And the deadline is closer than you
think. Learn more and register today at usf.to/AIWhisperer.