Coursera offers classes so workers aren’t blindsided by AI taking their jobs

Coursera is offering more classes and degrees so that global labor market won’t be blindsided by the rise of generative AI and remote work.

As businesses adopt generative AI to improve customer offerings and productivity, it will also create an unprecedented demand for reskilling – with up to 49% of workers having half or more of their tasks exposed to large language models.

“Today, we’re excited to announce several new content offerings, ChatGPT-powered platform innovations, and expanded immersive learning experiences to better serve our learners and educators worldwide,” said Jeff Maggioncalda, CEO of Coursera, in a blog post.

To meet the growing demand for AI skills in the workforce, Coursera is increasing its selection of AI-related courses, including a ChatGPT Teach-Out (University of Michigan) and AI for Good Specialization (DeepLearning.AI).

If people take advantage of generative AI, they can create more paths for personalized and interactive learning and stay ahead of the AI job killer.

The company is also launching Coursera Hiring Solutions to help connect learners with entry-level digital jobs around the world.

The company is adding online degrees with eight new programs in high-demand areas such as computer science, data science, and business administration. Offered by leading universities like Illinois Tech, UC Boulder, Ball State University, and SPJIMR, these additions bring Coursera’s catalog to over 50 bachelor’s and master’s degrees available on the platform.

Many of these programs will offer accessible pathways — including performance-based admissions with no prerequisites to serve students with or without the relevant background. With pricing under $20,000, all new degrees offer exceptional affordability and accessibility, especially well-suited for working adults.

To help learners prepare for in-demand jobs, we’re launching two Entry-Level Professional Certificates from IBM in front-end development and IT project management, designed specifically for learners without a degree or industry experience, and Spark AR Developer Advanced Professional Certificate from Meta for intermediate or advanced learners.

The company is also expanding immersive learning on the platform with several VR course experiences for learners. These include Courses from Duke, Peking University, the University of Michigan, and the University of Washington covering a range of skills such as public speaking, leadership, human physiology, mobility, language learning, and training for healthcare practitioners.

Online learning has evolved from a passive experience of watching videos to active engagement through collaborative projects, quizzes, and assessments. Today, Coursera announced two ChatGPT-powered tools to make learning more interactive and teaching more effective on Coursera.

Coursera Coach

Coursera Coach gives learners access to a virtual coach, powered by generative AI, that can answer questions and share personalized feedback. Coach will be able to provide quick video lecture summaries and resources, such as a recommended clip, to help learners better understand a specific concept. Over time Coach will also support learners with career guidance and interview prep. Coursera will start rolling out Coach to its learner population over the coming months.

AI-assisted course building

Based on a few simple prompts from a human author, the course-building tool will use generative AI to quickly auto-generate course content, such as overall course structure, descriptions, tags, readings, assignments, glossaries, and suggestions of relevant public content already on Coursera that could be included. This tool will be available through a pilot to select educator partners later this year.

Coursera is also deploying machine learning-powered translation at scale to make learning on Coursera more accessible to learners across the world. Over the coming months, thousands of course readings, lecture video subtitles, quizzes, assessments, peer review instructions, and discussion prompts across 2,000+ courses will be translated from English into Spanish, French, German, Arabic, Portuguese, Thai, and Indonesian.

As of Q1 2023, more than 35 million registered learners on Coursera are in countries with these seven languages as the official language.

Coursera Hiring Solutions to connect learners with jobs

Broadband connectivity, online learning, and remote work opportunities are unlocking new ways for skilled individuals to participate in the global economy, regardless of their location or prior experience. Increasingly, employers are considering skills-based hiring to address talent shortages and boost their workplace diversity. However, verifying a candidate’s skill remains challenging, especially for entry-level roles, when a career starter or switcher may lack a college degree or relevant prior work experience.

Today, the company launched Coursera Hiring Solutions (beta), a skills-based recruitment service that matches industry-trained, job-ready talent for companies filling entry-level digital roles. With Coursera Hiring Solutions, job seekers can develop the skills and credentials they need to be considered for entry-level, digital jobs – and they can use their Skills Profile to showcase their job readiness to employers with credentials, assessments, projects, and more.

Recruiters can use the Talent Dashboard to view pre-qualified entry-level talent all in one place, with filters for skills and credentials to identify candidates that meet their unique sourcing requirements. They can also verify candidate skill proficiency at scale with job-aligned assessments.

The company has already launched the solution in India to learners and a select number of employers, with plans to expand to the U.S. in the coming months.

The pandemic has propelled the adoption of online learning and remote work at an unprecedented scale, creating new opportunities for talent worldwide, Maggioncalda said.

“Generative AI once again reminds us that relentless change will force everyone to continually learn and adapt,” he said. “Together with our educator partners, we’re committed to helping learners and institutions turn change and disruption into more equal opportunity for everyone.”