Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) has emerged as the hottest course in India on Coursera, with enrollments experiencing a significant surge. Coursera, an online course provider with 136 million registered learners, witnessed enrollments in India happening roughly every three minutes in 2023. This demonstrates the immense popularity of GenAI among Indian learners.
GenAI refers to a type of AI that can generate various forms of media, including images, text, videos, and more, in response to prompts. For example, a text prompt can lead to the generation of a story by ChatGPT or a painting of a Victorian-style monkey by DALL-E2. The allure of these creative possibilities has made GenAI highly sought-after in the corporate world.
According to Jeff Maggioncalda, Coursera’s CEO, the top five GenAI courses in India during 2023 were Prompt Engineering for ChatGPT offered by Vanderbilt University, Introduction to Generative AI by Google Cloud, Generative AI with Large Language Models offered by AWS & Deeplearning.AI, and Generative AI for Everyone offered by Deeplearning.AI. Maggioncalda shared this information at the Tamil Nadu Global Investors Meet 2024 on January 7.
India’s enthusiasm for courses that provide high-demand technology and data science skills was evident in the 2023 data. Indian learners displayed a keen desire to acquire the competencies necessary to thrive in the modern digital economy. Aside from GenAI, the second-most popular course was Leadership Skills by IIM Ahmedabad, covering various topics such as influence, authority, power dynamics, stress management, and lessons from the Mahabharata.
Another trend noticed was the rising interest in courses that form part of entry-level professional certificates. These courses, focusing on equipping learners with skills relevant to entry-level roles, do not require any specific background knowledge or college degrees. Approximately 50% of the top courses in India, such as ‘Google’s Foundations: Data, Data, Everywhere’ and ‘Foundations of Project Management,’ are part of these certificate programs.
Among the states in India, Tamil Nadu stands out as a hub of online learning, with over 2.3 million learners on Coursera. It ranks among the top five states in terms of learner participation. The ten most popular courses in Tamil Nadu include ‘Foundations in Data, Data, Everywhere’ by Google, ‘Crash Course on Python’ by Google, ‘Foundations of User Experience (UX) Design’ by Google, and ‘Ask Questions to Make Data-Driven Decisions’ by Google.
We’ve witnessed a remarkable compound annual growth rate of 52% in Tamil Nadu. If Tamil Nadu were a country, it would rank among the top 10 on Coursera, added Maggioncalda.
As Indian learners continue to prioritize acquiring in-demand skills, the popularity of GenAI courses and other offerings on Coursera is expected to soar even higher. The availability of these online courses enables individuals to enhance their skill sets and remain competitive in the evolving job market. Coursera’s robust course offerings provide learners with opportunities to expand their knowledge and capabilities, empowering them to excel in the digital age.
