This is where everyone starts. You've heard about ChatGPT, maybe tried it a few times. You're experimenting, seeing what it can do. You're still figuring out how to ask questions and what kinds of answers to expect.

You understand these concepts:

• • What AI tools exist and what they're each good for
• • The types of tasks AI can help with (writing, brainstorming, summarizing, explaining)
• • That AI can make mistakes (hallucinate)
• • Basic prompting = asking clearly for what you want

You can do these things:

• • Write basic prompts to get useful responses
• • Have a conversation with AI
• • Recognize obviously wrong or made-up information
• • Try different AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude, etc.)
• • Use AI for simple everyday tasks

What you can build at this level:

Nothing yet. You're still learning the basics. But you're close. Keep going.

This is where things get real. At this level, you're not just playing with AI—you're using it for actual work. You know how to iterate when you don't get what you want. You understand that good prompts require context and examples. You're getting reliable, useful outputs. This is the minimum level needed to start teaching others.

You understand these concepts:

• • How to improve prompts when you don't get what you want
• • Why examples and context help AI give better answers
• • How to spot AI errors and verify important information
• • When to use AI vs when not to

You can do these things:

• • Iterate and refine prompts for better results
• • Provide examples to guide AI's responses
• • Fact-check and verify AI outputs
• • Use AI for real work tasks consistently
• • Break big requests into smaller pieces
• • Manage conversation flow effectively

What you can build at this level:

• • ✅ AI Authority business (teach what you know, build an audience)
• • ✅ Basic AI Workshops (show others in your industry how to use AI)

You're not just using AI—you understand it. You know how neural networks work at a high level. You can explain attention mechanisms and training data. You use advanced techniques like few-shot prompting and chain-of-thought. You're building Custom GPTs and Claude Projects. At this level, you can teach AI to others.

You understand these concepts:

• • How neural networks and LLMs actually work (high-level architecture)
• • What "attention" means and why it matters
• • How AI learns patterns from training data
• • Advanced prompting techniques (few-shot, chain-of-thought, role-playing)
• • System prompts vs user prompts
• • Custom GPT/Project architecture

You can do these things:

• • Create Custom GPTs or Claude Projects
• • Use advanced prompting patterns strategically
• • Write effective system prompts
• • Build reusable prompt templates
• • Explain how AI works to others
• • Teach your team to use AI effectively

What you can build at this level:

• • ✅ AI Authority (teach with deeper expertise)
• • ✅ AI Workshops (advanced workshops, corporate training)
• • ✅ Basic AI Automation (if you also understand workflows)

This is where you start building ACTUAL applications—without being a programmer. You use tools like Cursor, v0, Replit Agent, or Bolt. You describe what you want in plain English, the AI writes the code, and you iterate until it works. You can deploy apps, fix bugs by chatting with AI, and ship real products. This is "vibe coding."

You understand these concepts:

• • What "vibe coding" means (describe what you want, AI builds it)
• • AI coding tools (Cursor, v0, Replit Agent, Bolt, Claude Artifacts)
• • How to communicate effectively with AI to build apps
• • Iterating on AI-generated code without knowing how to code
• • Understanding basic app concepts (frontend, backend, database)

You can do these things:

• • Use Cursor, v0, or Replit Agent to build applications
• • Describe app features clearly to AI
• • Test and iterate on AI-generated apps
• • Fix bugs by chatting with AI
• • Deploy simple apps with AI guidance
• • Know when AI needs more context

What you can build at this level:

• • ✅ AI Builder business (create AI-powered products and tools)
• • ✅ AI Automation (build custom solutions for clients)
• • ✅ All Workshop/Authority options (with technical credibility)

This is where you connect AI to everything else. You build workflows in Zapier or Make that trigger AI processes. You connect AI to CRMs, databases, email systems, and internal tools. You understand APIs conceptually (even if you don't code them). You design automation architecture. You solve real business problems by making AI talk to existing systems.

You understand these concepts:

• • What APIs are and how software talks to software
• • Automation workflows (trigger → process → action)
• • Webhooks and event-driven processes
• • No-code automation platforms
• • Understanding system architecture and data flow

You can do these things:

• • Build Zapier/Make workflows with AI steps
• • Connect AI to your existing tools (CRM, databases, etc.)
• • Create multi-step automated processes
• • Understand APIs without coding them
• • Troubleshoot workflow failures
• • Design automation architecture

What you can build at this level:

• • ✅ AI Automation business (this is your sweet spot)
• • ✅ AI Builder (more complex integrations)
• • ✅ High-value consulting (system design for enterprises)

This is ACTUAL coding. Not vibe coding. You're writing Python to call OpenAI or Anthropic APIs. You understand embeddings and vector databases. You implement RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation) systems. You manage token costs and context windows. You build production-ready AI applications that scale. This is real software engineering.

You understand these concepts:

• • Writing Python code to call AI APIs
• • Embeddings and vector databases
• • RAG architecture (Retrieval Augmented Generation)
• • Token management and costs
• • Frameworks like LangChain

You can do these things:

• • Actually write Python code (not just vibe coding)
• • Call OpenAI/Anthropic APIs from code
• • Implement RAG systems
• • Build production-ready AI apps
• • Manage context and conversation history

What you can build at this level:

• • ✅ AI Builder business (advanced products, SaaS platforms)
• • ✅ High-value custom solutions
• • ✅ White-label AI products

This is advanced territory. You fine-tune LLMs on custom datasets. You run models locally with Ollama or LM Studio. You build production-grade RAG systems with advanced retrieval strategies. You understand transformer architecture at a deep level. You optimize model performance and costs. You're customizing AI for specific enterprise use cases.

You understand these concepts:

• • Fine-tuning vs RAG (when to use which)
• • Running models locally vs cloud APIs
• • Advanced RAG architectures
• • Model evaluation and benchmarking
• • Transformer architecture deep dive
• • Optimization and performance tuning

You can do these things:

• • Fine-tune LLMs on custom data
• • Run local models (Ollama, LM Studio)
• • Build production RAG systems
• • Optimize model performance and cost
• • Work with Hugging Face ecosystem
• • Implement advanced retrieval strategies

What you can build at this level:

• • ✅ Enterprise AI solutions
• • ✅ Custom AI infrastructure
• • ✅ AI consulting at the highest level

This is research-level work. You read and implement academic papers. You train neural networks from scratch. You design new model architectures. You run large-scale experiments. You contribute to AI research. You're at the frontier of what's possible. You're pushing the boundaries of AI itself.

You understand these concepts:

• • Neural network architectures from scratch
• • Training dynamics and optimization
• • Distributed training and scaling
• • Research methodology
• • Latest techniques (MoE, RLHF, Constitutional AI)
• • Model design and experimentation

You can do these things:

• • Read and implement research papers
• • Train neural networks from scratch
• • Design model architectures
• • Run large-scale experiments
• • Contribute to AI research
• • Stay current with cutting edge

What you can build at this level:

• • ✅ Novel AI research
• • ✅ Custom model architectures
• • ✅ Cutting-edge AI companies