Generative AI: How to Use It and Why It Matters - May 2026

Generative AI is already transforming industries across the globe, with even bigger shifts on the horizon. Trying to keep up with the speed of innovation and constant stream of headlines can feel overwhelming. As a result, many leaders and practitioners aren't sure how best to leverage generative AI tools like ChatGPT—or even how they work.

Generative AI: How to Use It and Why It Matters, a flexible, six-week online program from Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education, is designed to demystify this transformative technology. Whether you work in business, government, nonprofit, healthcare, or academia, you'll gain an intuitive understanding of how generative AI works with practical, step-by-step guidance on how to use it with confidence. You'll also develop the insight to participate thoughtfully in the broader dialogue about AI’s risks, limitations, and long-term impact on society.

Curriculum

This six-week online program is designed for flexibility and engagement. You'll progress at your own pace through three dynamic units, each spanning two weeks and featuring interactive modules, instructional videos, practical exercises, and thought-provoking reflection prompts. Plus, you’ll enrich your experience through three live sessions with leading Harvard faculty along with interactions with a peer cohort of participants from around the world.

Unit 1: How Generative AI Works
Introduction to Generative AI
Deep Neural Networks
The Alignment Problem

Unit 2: How to Use Generative AI
Prompt Engineering
Beyond Chatbots
When and How to Use Generative AI
AI Tools in Practice: A Case Study

Unit 3: Implications of Generative AI
Risks of Generative AI
Generative AI and Copyright
Generative AI and the Future of Work
Misinformation and Disinformation
Capstone Session and Reflection

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of Generative AI: How to Use It and Why It Matters, you’ll be able to:

• Explain how ChatGPT and other generative AI systems work.
• Apply practical techniques, including prompt engineering strategies, to leverage large language models in your work.
• Use generative AI to work more productively and learn more effectively in professional or public-service fields.
• Build a bot that you and others can eventually use to improve outcomes in your life or organization.
• Identify uses of generative AI that can responsibly improve organizational and societal outcomes.
• Engage thoughtfully in generative AI policy debates around regulation, security, labor, mis/disinformation, and intellectual property.

Registration Information

This is a registration-based program. There is no application or admissions process. Registration-based executive programs offer a certificate of completion but do not qualify toward Executive Certificates and do not offer alumni status.