AI Courses: The Bandwagon Bullsh*t vs Courses That Actually Teach You Something

By Richard Flores-Moore FCCA Strategic Transformation Lead | AI Realist | GhostGen.AI founder | Author of The Emperor’s New Clothes: An AI Strategy?

“Not everything that glitters is generative gold.”

We’re living through the age of the AI course gold rush. Some are brilliant. Many are not.

Take two courses I bought recently—one for £47.99, one for £14.99. The first was a glorified PowerPoint of AI tools, interrupted by inane pseudo-reinforcement questions. The second, from Udemy, was a surprising gem: a structured, business-focused tour of real AI techniques in finance and accountancy (Udemy, 2024).

This contrast—and the endless stream of AI training ads polluting my social feed—made something clear: we seem to be drowning in content hype.

The Rise of AI Tourism

Let’s be honest—most of these courses are digital sightseeing trips. You get a polished dashboard, a smiling narrator, and a tour of ChatGPT, Midjourney, and a dozen productivity tools. Maybe a worksheet. Maybe a certificate.

But are you really learning to implement AI—or just being shown around what’s trending?

According to O’Reilly Media, 45% of professionals said the AI courses they took lacked depth and application beyond tool usage (O’Reilly, 2023). And Stanford’s HAI warns that AI education must go beyond tool familiarity and explore implications, risks, and systems thinking (Stanford HAI, 2023).

The problem isn’t access to tools—it’s a lack of substantive content, context, strategy, and consequence.

…and Watch Out for the Subscription Trap

This was the moment I snapped—the final straw of tolerance in an AI learning economy filled with smoke and mirrors.

One course, which seemed decent on the surface—a £47.99, 12-week “expert-led” programme—turned out to be a gateway to a £95-per-quarter auto-renewing subscription. Hidden behind vaguely titled “ongoing toolkits” and “premium community access.” I admit I wasn’t paying attention and it probably did say something in the small print, but a £95 hit for fluff just pushed me over the edge and spawned this article.

You’re not just buying education—you’re buying into a business model designed around forgetfulness. It’s the gym membership model of digital learning: enthusiastic start, sharp decline, slow financial bleed.

The Bullsh*t vs The Brilliance

Once you see the pattern, it’s hard to unsee it.

The Bullsh*t “Become an AI PM in 24 hours!” “Understand AI’s role in business transformation” 28 tools in 28 days, taught by digital marketers. All about what’s cool. No mention of governance or risk or deep dives into integration, ethics. All with sketchy business outcomes. Subscription landmines.

As Harvard Business Review puts it, a common mistake is overestimating what LLMs can do—treating them like reasoning engines when they’re really just prediction machines (HBR, 2023). Yet many of these courses pedal exactly this misconception.

What the Good Stuff Looks Like

The classic institutions hold the line. For example MIT Sloan’s “AI: Implications for Business Strategy” is a RollsRoyce but feels like a lot of money (£2,863 at the time of print – but then if it adds value?) it isn’t about demos—it’s about:

• Data governance
• AI-driven operating model shifts
• Value chain reinvention
• Executive decision-making frameworks (MIT Sloan, 2024)

Likewise, the World Economic Forum stresses that upskilling must include ethics, governance, and social context, not just AI tools (WEF, 2024). And Deloitte’s enterprise AI study backs it up: the real skills gap is strategic, not technical (Deloitte, 2023).

The £14.99 Exception

Let’s go back to that rare gem: Artificial Intelligence for Finance, Accounting & Auditing on Udemy.

• Covered eight practical AI techniques (NLP, RPA, Smart Analytics, IoT, etc.)
• Hands-on work with IBM Watson, RapidMiner, MindBridge Ai
• No-code, but no shortcuts
• Industry-relevant use cases and thoughtful reflection
• No hidden fees. No fantasy promises. Just applied learning.

It didn’t pretend to make me an AI developer. It helped me understand where AI fits into real workflows—finance teams, audit processes, operational planning.

How to Tell If a Course Is Worth Your Time

Here’s how I think you can separate signal from noise:

As Deloitte’s 2023 study confirms, knowing how to use the tools isn’t the most urgent thing it’s knowing what questions to ask.

Final Thought: Don’t Confuse Access with Understanding

The AI boom is real. But most of the courses riding that wave aren’t education—they’re theatre. And theatre rarely leads to transformation.

Before you hit Buy Now, I suggest pause. Ask yourself “Is this teaching me how to think, plan, and lead with AI—or just how to click, scroll, and subscribe?”

References

• O’Reilly Media (2023). AI Adoption in the Enterprise: Survey Report.
• MIT Sloan Executive Education (2024). Artificial Intelligence: Implications for Business Strategy. executive.mit.edu
• Udemy (2024). Artificial Intelligence for Finance, Accounting & Auditing. Course reviewed June 2025.
• World Economic Forum (2024). Reskilling Revolution: Preparing for the AI Economy. weforum.org
• Stanford HAI (2023). AI Literacy: Priorities for Inclusive Digital Education. hai.stanford.edu
• Harvard Business Review (2023). Don’t Fall for the AI Hype: What LLMs Actually Do. hbr.org
• Deloitte (2023). State of AI in the Enterprise: Skills, Strategy, and Readiness. deloitte.com
• AI Ascent LLC (2024). Course: Artificial Intelligence for Finance, Accounting & Auditing by Dr. Ivy Munoko, Ph.D., ACCA, CISA. Instructor and AI Governance Expert.

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