What it is
The AI Launchpad Course is the entry point to the ALiF program ecosystem. It takes two to three hours, is fully online and self-paced, and can be completed in one sitting or over a few sessions within a week. It needs no prior knowledge of AI and no technical background.
Some ALiF documents call it the AI Awareness Course, its earlier name. The current syllabus (v2.0) uses the name AI Launchpad.
It is an orientation, not a competency program. People who complete it have not shown AI literacy; they have started working toward it. The course introduces all five ALiF components (TEC, DAT, EVA, ETH, PRA) at a level below L1 Foundation and claims no sub-competency.
Structure
| Module | Focus | Components | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Understanding AI | What AI is and is not, how it learns, five ways it fails (including automation bias) | TEC | 45 to 50 minutes |
| 2. AI in your world | AI in the learner’s own work, and the difference between AI that supports judgment and AI that replaces it | TEC, PRA | 40 to 45 minutes |
| 3. Why AI literacy matters | Individual reasons and the shared responsibility for patient safety, research integrity and fair assessment | ETH, PRA | 30 to 35 minutes |
| 4. Your ALiF journey | The five components, why data literacy comes before evaluation and ethics, the three levels, and the next step | All five | 30 to 35 minutes |
From Module 2 onward, learners choose a role track (Clinician, Researcher, Educator, Administrator or Student, with a General track for others). The objectives and sequence are the same for everyone; the examples and scenarios change.
Assessment and completion
Assessment is formative and completion-based. Each module ends with a short knowledge check with feedback and no pass mark. Learners also complete a classification activity, a written reflection that stays in their personal record unless they choose to share it, and a short self-reflection on confidence across the five components. That self-reflection is labeled as confidence only, not evidence of competency.
Completion earns a Certificate of Orientation. It is not a competency certificate and does not give an ALiF level. Institutions that record completion in HR or professional development systems should label it as AI literacy orientation.
Where it leads
The course points each learner to the 20 to 25 hour foundation program, where competency development at L1 begins. The Implementation Pathway Model recommends the orientation before any baseline self-assessment, so that participants share a basic vocabulary.
An Arabic version is in development as a full adaptation rather than a translation, following the Arabic Localization Protocol.
Versioning and alignment
The course follows the ALiF Program Versioning and Review Policy: annual content checks, an alignment review after each Standard release, and a major review after a Standard major version. It will state its alignment with ALiF 2.0 while keeping its own version number. See the Versioning and Review Policy for how the Standard itself changes.