Beginner · Module 01
Your First Message
After this, you will have sent a message to an AI, read the response, and know that nothing broke.
Intro
You are about to start a job where people will probably assume you already know how to use this. That assumption is mostly fine — there is not much to know yet. What you need right now is to get one message sent so the tool stops feeling like something you need to figure out before you can use it. This is a dry run. Nothing you type here matters.
You do not need to know anything about AI to do this. You do not need to be good at technology. You are going to type one sentence, press send, and read what comes back. That is the whole exercise.
Open your AI tool
Pick the platform you are using and follow the short setup steps. You only need to do this once — after this you will have it open and ready.
Claude claude.ai
Go to claude.ai and sign in (or create a free account). You will see a large text area in the centre of the screen. That is where you type or paste your messages. Press Enter or click the arrow button to send. To start a fresh conversation later, click New chat in the top-left corner.
ChatGPT chatgpt.com
Go to chatgpt.com and sign in (or create a free account). You will see a text area at the bottom of the screen. Type or paste your message there. Press Enter or click the send button to send. To start a new conversation, click New chat in the sidebar.
Gemini gemini.google.com
Go to gemini.google.com and sign in with your Google account. You will see a text area at the bottom of the screen. Type or paste your message there. Press Enter or click the send button to send. To start a new conversation, click New chat in the sidebar.
Claude Code terminal
Claude Code is a command-line tool for developers. If this is your platform, the Advanced track (A-series, starting at A-00) is the better fit. Open your terminal and type claude to start. The beginner exercises below still work — just type your message at the prompt instead of pasting into a text area.
The exercise
This takes under three minutes. Two steps. The first is required. The second is optional.
Step 1: Send one message
Copy this message exactly as written:
What is the capital of France?
Paste it into the text area on your platform (not sure which one? See 'Open your AI tool' above). Press send.
The AI will respond with something about Paris. It may include extra information. It may be a single sentence. It may be a paragraph. Any of those are fine.
That is your first message sent. The AI answered. It did not ask why you wanted to know. It did not judge the question. Nothing broke.
Step 2: Now make it yours (optional)
Here is a second message you can try:
What are three things I could cook for dinner tonight using chicken and rice?
Before you send this one, change it to match what you actually have. Replace "chicken and rice" with whatever ingredients are in your kitchen right now.
This is a pattern you will use throughout the course: start with a message someone else wrote, then change the parts that should be yours. The next module (B-02) walks through this step by step. For now, just swap those two ingredients and send it.
Step 1: Send one message
Copy this message exactly as written:
I'm starting a new job at a marketing agency next month. What are three things I could do in my first week to make a good impression?
Paste it into the text area on your platform (not sure which one? See 'Open your AI tool' above). Press send.
The AI will respond with a list of suggestions. It may be bullet points. It may be paragraphs. It may include context you did not ask for. Any of those are fine.
That is your first message sent. The AI answered. Nothing broke.
Step 2: Now make it yours (optional)
Here is a second message you can try:
I'm starting a new job at [type of company or team] next month as a [your job title]. What are three things I could do in my first week to make a good impression?
Before you send this one, replace the parts in square brackets with your actual situation. This is the pattern that runs through the rest of the course: start with a message someone else wrote, change the parts that should be yours, send it. B-02 walks through that in full.
If your response looks different from what you expected
That is normal. Every conversation with an AI is slightly different, even when you send the same message twice. The wording, the length, and the level of detail will vary. If the response was clearly about the right topic, it worked. If it seemed completely unrelated to what you asked, start a new conversation and try sending the same message again. Starting a new conversation is instant and free — the AI has no memory of previous conversations, so there is nothing to lose.
If it asks you to upgrade
Free accounts have a message limit. If you see a prompt asking you to subscribe or upgrade, you have not done anything wrong — you have used your free allowance. It resets, usually within a few hours. Come back and continue then, or try a different platform in the meantime.
- Claude.ai — a usage note appears when you are near the limit. The limit resets daily.
- ChatGPT — a rolling message limit applies on the free plan. An upgrade prompt appears when it is reached.
- Gemini — free accounts may switch to a lighter model when daily limits are reached. This is automatic and usually does not affect everyday tasks.
A note on data
Before you paste work documents or other sensitive content into any AI tool, check the platform's data policy. On some free plans, the AI company may use your conversations to improve the product — paid plans typically do not. If you are using a tool provided by your employer, ask your IT team what applies. For this exercise, you are typing one test sentence, so there is nothing sensitive at stake. But it is a good habit to know the policy before you share anything that matters.
Next
Now that you have sent a message and read a response, the next step is learning how to take any starting message and make it fit your own situation. That is B-02: Copy, Personalise, Use.