I took an AI course so you don’t have to 

[SINGAPORE] A while ago, my friend proudly announced a new artificial intelligence (AI) literacy certification on her LinkedIn. I’ll admit, as a native ChatGPT user, the idea of spending time on a course to learn how to use AI sounded slightly ridiculous to me.   If you’re a regular LinkedIn doomscroller, you may share my scepticism. Next to internships, certifications may feel like just another LinkedIn collectable. These badges span anything from digital marketing fundamentals to Excel proficiency – often free, and sometimes completable in a single afternoon. Their descriptions also often sound a little too good to be true, typically packed with phrases like “mastering tools”, “leveraging skills”, and “emerging technologies”. 

🎖️ Jumping on the bandwagon

To see what these certifications actually offer, I took AI Singapore’s AI for Everyone course. 

Aimed at non-technical learners, the course introduces modern AI technologies and terminology, explores potential everyday use cases, and explains how to build a simple AI model.

I went in hoping to be impressed, but the experience ultimately fell a little flat. In hindsight, my expectations might have been set too high. 

After all, the course focuses on AI literacy and theory, rather than hands-on application. 

Viewed through that lens, it made sense that about 70 per cent of the course focused on explaining how AI works. But that also meant there was little room to learn about AI application – the part I was most curious about. When the instructors dove into using secondary school math formulas to demonstrate how AI training models work, I caught myself zoning out like I was back in class. 

Still, not everyone shared my experience. WW Chan, a 23-year-old civil servant, took the course back in 2022 and found it enlightening. 

“It was a good foundation to help me understand the uses of AI, which was especially helpful since I took it before GenAI blew up. The certification definitely boosted my resume as I was applying for roles involving AI integration,” she says. 

That contrast made one thing clear: the value of a course depends heavily on what you expect to get out of it.

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As someone who doesn’t really need to know the mechanics behind AI for work, adding the certification to my LinkedIn isn’t groundbreaking. But for learners looking to build foundational understanding, I can also see how it serves as a meaningful stepping stone. 

📚 Certification Jenga

Certification stacking isn’t new. During the pandemic, online course enrolments surged as people looked for ways to upskill from home. That momentum has only accelerated with the AI boom and mounting pressure to stay relevant. 

It’s no surprise that people are racing to pad their resumes, especially as job descriptions evolve. Last December, nearly one in five Singapore job postings mentioned AI, up from one in eight job postings in 2024, according to Indeed’s Singapore Hiring Lab Report released last year. 

With platforms like Coursera, LinkedIn Learning, and Google offering accessible courses, it’s getting increasingly easy to stack certifications for a shinier resume. AI courses seem to lead the pack, with Coursera racking up 5.4 million enrolments in generative AI courses in 2025, nearly double the previous year’s total. 

But the ease of access also fuels doubt. How much learning can happen in just a few hours?

🎓 What do you gain?

Back in his undergraduate days as an info systems major, Douglas Toh, now 26 and a research engineer at Singapore Management University (SMU), took an AI essentials course hosted by Google on Coursera.   The four-hour-long course covered prompting basics, practical AI use cases, and staying up-to-date in “the emerging landscape of AI”. 

Toh says he was initially attracted to the free certification from a major tech company. 

“Although it focused more on AI basics, I actually did learn new things, like how to prompt more effectively and how to use AI responsibly,” he says.

Still, Toh sees the certification as a stepping stone rather than something that secures a job. Similarly, Tan Kian Yu, 24, a third-year economics undergraduate at SMU, views certifications as a complement to his portfolio rather than a deciding factor in getting hired. 

“A certification could get you noticed, but you have to be able to back it up with skills. Sure, you can add a certificate to your LinkedIn profile, but whether you actually use what you learned is a different story,” he says.

“My goal isn’t to flaunt certifications in interviews. It’s to prove that I got my knowledge from somewhere, then showcase the projects I’ve done because of that learning,” he says.  

Allison Ching, an executive career coach and founder of Dream, Do, Deliver, echoed Tan’s sentiments, emphasising that employers notice results, not certifications.   “Consider pursuing certifications when they support a clear story of capability and impact, and make sure you apply what you learn,” she says. 

Before signing up, Ching suggests connecting with people in a desired industry and investing in a course if it builds a relevant skill or signals credibility in a target role.

📝 Is it really legit?

To hear about how certifications look from across the interview table, I reached out to Garey Gan, a recruiter at IT consulting firm TEKsystems.  

“Certifications may carry more weight if my client requests a specific requirement to fit the company’s needs. For example, a Lean Six Sigma certification for a project management role,” he says. 

That said, Gan says there will always be a gap between coursework and real-world application. 

Entry-level certifications, however, can signal initiative, especially for candidates exploring a new field. 

He also cautions against bloating a resume with certifications and overstated skills. Instead, having projects and experiences to back up the skills learned during a course could be more useful in an interview. 

“You shouldn’t be taking a certification just to improve your CV. Its real value should be the actual knowledge gleaned from the course, which should help you broaden your skillset and experience to be a better fit for a role,” he concludes.    

After taking the course and speaking to learners, recruiters and coaches, I’ve learnt that courses work best when they fit into a broader story: why you’re learning, how it connects to your career goals, and what you’ve done with that knowledge afterwards. 

If a course gives you vocabulary, confidence, or a conceptual foundation – great. If it leads to projects you can show off during an interview – even better.

But if it’s just another badge for LinkedIn – or in my case, an exercise in pure scepticism – you might want to rethink your “why”. 

TL;DR

• Online certifications are increasingly common, but their value varies
• Certifications may be useful if it grants you skills for real-life applications 
• Sometimes, they’re a way to signal initiative, rather than proof of deep expertise
• The real worth of certifications depends on your career goals and how you use those skills afterwards