About This AI Online Course
Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming how the defense and intelligence organizations generate, analyze and act on information.
As AI-enabled tools become increasingly integrated into intelligence, logistics, planning, cybersecurity, training and other mission functions, personnel must understand not only how to access these capabilities, but how to direct them effectively, securely and responsibly.
Prompt engineering—the practice of designing structured inputs that guide large language models toward accurate, relevant and mission-aligned outputs—has emerged as a foundational workforce skill for the AI era.
This online course provides the knowledge and practical skills required to effectively interact with generative AI systems through structured prompting techniques. You will explore the fundamentals of LLMs and prompt engineering, responsible AI principles, defense-specific security and data handling considerations, prompt anatomy and the strengths and limitations of different prompting approaches. You will also examine operational risks associated with AI use, including hallucinations and prompt injection, and gain practical mitigation strategies for reducing these risks in mission environments.
Through hands-on exercises drawn from realistic defense scenarios, you will learn to apply zero-shot, few-shot, persona-based, progressive, zero-shot chain-of-thought and self-consistency prompting techniques to generate more accurate, traceable and mission-relevant outputs. The course concludes with a capstone project in which you will develop a reusable prompt template for a real-world task performed in their current role.
Upon completion, you will be better prepared to leverage GenAI tools responsibly and effectively while maintaining the accountability, security and mission focus required across the defense enterprise.
What You Will Learn
- Define LLMs and prompt engineering and explain their capabilities, limitations and operational considerations in defense environments
- Apply responsible AI principles when using prompting tools
- Construct effective prompts using their core components
- Differentiate between prompting techniques and determine when to use each
- Evaluate prompting outputs for accuracy, bias, traceability, and potential risks
- Develop structured prompting workflows and reusable prompt libraries to support consistent, mission-aligned outcomes
Who Should Take This Online Course
This course is designed for any professional working for the Federal government or a government contractor company interested in learning more about GenAI in a defense context.
More seasoned professionals will also benefit from the course to obtain a refresher on key concepts, terminology, and use.
Prerequisites
None. However, completion of the FedLearn courses, Foundation Models (GENAI105) and Insights on Large Language Model Engagement (GENAI106) are highly recommended.
Course Certificate
To achieve a course certificate of completion, you must score 80 percent or higher on a graded final exam.
Course Format
Self-paced, online training course
Course Pricing
Individual courses are $24.99 (per person).
Seat licenses to access the entire FedLearn AI and data science catalog are also available. Click here to learn more and purchase
If you are interested in learning about special team rates for Federal government and government contractor organizations, email [email protected]
Continuing Professional Education Credits
This online course provides 4 CPEs.
