Right — welcome to Lesson 7, and the start of Module 1: The 2026 landscape.
This is a straight map of what AI products actually look like in 2026 — before the jargon, the hype, or another surprise line on your bank statement.
Two doors in
Finished Module 0 (the What AI is lessons)? Then you already know what an LLM is and why work is shifting. This lesson maps what you're renting on ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and the rest — the features, the limits, and why the bills quietly stack up.
Already using ChatGPT, Gemini or Copilot? You can start right here. You probably pay for AI already — so this is what you're actually buying: chat, thinking modes, research reports, images, video, search, agents — and why that bill adds up the way it does.
Never tried AI, and skipped Module 0? Pop back to Lesson 1 first — about fifteen minutes, well spent.
By the end (~50 minutes)
- A plain picture of what happens when you type (no magic).
- A map of the big platforms — products and limits, not model-name trivia.
- Why fast vs thinking matters when you pick a mode inside the app.
- Honest rent vs own — and what open-weight means (the idea today; the install is hands-on later, in Off the Grid).
- One prompt exercise so you actually feel the difference better instructions make.
Before you start
- Prerequisites: Module 0 recommended; none enforced. If you've ever typed into an AI, you're qualified.
- Time: Ten short pages. Continue when each bit lands.
- You'll need: Any AI chat for the exercise later — ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Gertrude on this site. No install for this lesson.
A reminder before we dig in: I'm a tattoo artist from Sheffield who failed every GCSE except art. The bar here was never "be clever enough" — it's follow along and don't quit the first time something looks weird. When ChatGPT hit the UK I was on it release day, wife over my shoulder, both stunned — and I still didn't understand I was renting a bundle of features, not "one smart brain." This lesson is the map I wish I'd had back then.
Continue when you're ready.