About This AI Online Course
Large language models are rapidly becoming one of the most critical technologies for the U.S. Department of Defense—offering new ways to process information, generate insights, and accelerate mission planning and decision-making.
Their importance lies not only in their current applications but also in their potential to transform how the DoD operates in the future.
At their core, LLMs are artificial intelligence systems trained on massive amounts of text data that enable them to understand, generate and reason with human-like language. This capability allows them to answer questions, summarize documents, draft content, simulate scenarios and even interact with other software tools—all functions with direct relevance to defense and intelligence missions.
This course explores how LLMs work, how they are trained and why they matter to the DoD. You will compare leading models—gaining awareness of the differences between open-source and proprietary approaches. This online course also addresses DoD interim guidance on safe and responsible use—underscoring the importance of human oversight, protecting sensitive information and recognizing risks like hallucinations.
Learn about fine-tuning, reinforcement learning with human feedback and in-context learning, which shape how LLMs perform and adapt to tasks. Practical instruction will include strategies for crafting better prompts, techniques to reduce errors and insights into how multimodal and agent-based LLMs are expanding beyond simple chatbots into powerful decision-support tools.
By the end of this course, you will have a grounded understanding of what LLMs are, how to use them effectively and responsibly and why these models represent a significant shift in how the DoD can harness AI to gain decision advantage.
What You Will Learn
- Identify the potential applications of using LLMs
- Identify the ethical considerations of using LLMs
This online course is aligned with DoD strategies.
Who Should Take This Online Course
This online training course is designed for defense or intelligence professionals working for the Federal government or government contractor companies who wish to learn about LLM foundations.
More seasoned professionals will also benefit from this online training experience to obtain a refresher on the critical subject matter.
Prerequisites
None. However, prior completion of the FedLearn courses, Introduction to AI/Machine Learning Concepts & Terminology (AIDATA109) and Foundation Models (GENAI105), are highly recommended.
Course Certificate
To achieve a course certificate of completion, you must score 80 percent or higher on a graded quiz.
Course Format
Self-paced, online training course
Course Pricing
Individual courses are $9.99 (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 Education Unit Credits
This course provides 1 CEU.
