GenAI Foundations

beginner · 8 lessons · 53 min

Everything a beginner needs to truly get generative AI — from diffusion and LLMs to your very first creation.

Generative AI turned a keyboard into a film studio, an art department, and a record label. This path explains, in plain language, how models like Imagen 3, Sora 2, and Suno actually work — what they nail, where they fail, and how to use them ethically. You finish by creating your first image in VAR2, step by step.

Lessons in this path

  1. What Is Generative AI?

    6 min

    Generative AI creates brand-new images, video, and music instead of just labeling what already exists. Here is what it is — and how it learned to create.

  2. How Image Models Work

    8 min

    From pure static to a finished picture in seconds — meet diffusion, the surprisingly simple idea behind modern image models.

  3. How LLMs Work

    7 min

    Tokens, next-word prediction, and context windows — the three ideas that explain every chat AI you have ever used.

  4. GenAI Vocabulary 101

    5 min

    Fifteen terms, five minutes, zero jargon-panic. Learn the vocabulary that makes every AI tutorial, changelog, and Discord thread suddenly make sense.

  5. Capabilities and Limits

    7 min

    An honest map of what 2026 AI models genuinely nail — and where they still faceplant, from hallucinations to melted text.

  6. Choosing the Right Model

    6 min

    NanoBanana or Imagen 3? Sora 2 or Veo 3.1? A simple decision framework for picking the right model for images, video, and music — without wasting tokens.

  7. AI Ethics and Copyright

    8 min

    Who owns AI art? What is fair game commercially? The training-data debate, deepfake red lines, and disclosure rules — the lesson that keeps you out of trouble.

  8. Your First Creation

    6 min

    Enough theory. In the next ten minutes you will generate your first AI image in VAR2 — free tokens, starter prompt, and remix ideas included.