Is AI Skill Academy a Scam? I Took the Free Seminar [Review of Reviews, Fees, and Features]

Hello, I am Sakaguchi (@powertraveler). I run a web marketing and ad operations company, and I also do side work in AI consulting and creating corporate GPTs.

The other day, I participated in a free seminar for the generative AI school "AI Skill Academy".

My motivation was that when I looked at the traffic for the generative AI blog I operate,

there were many keywords like these.

When I actually looked into it, there was little information available, just articles mechanically generated by AI, so I thought there might be people in trouble and decided to participate.

✅️ Conclusion first (what I felt after attending the seminar)

My honest impression after taking the 2.5-hour seminar is as follows👇️

The price range of 210,000 yen for a lifelong learning AI school is less than half the price of major schools like SHIFT AI, making it cost-effective. If you are hesitant because other schools are expensive, I think it is worth listening to what they have to say.

👉️[Held this week] Participate in the AI Skill Academy free seminar

[First half] Generative AI, historical background, and prompt talk

So, I took the AI Skill Academy free seminar. The beginning focuses on

and other historical backgrounds.

There was a part about "how to think about prompts," and I thought this was educational for AI beginners.

Basic but important points are explained, such as specifying the format of the concrete output and sharing the reader's age and IT literacy.

[Seminar Mid-to-Late Stage] School and Case Study Introduction

From the middle, the presentation covers an introduction to AI Skill Academy and real-world examples.

The content was structured as follows 👇️

Introduction of student success stories

In the middle of the seminar, many success stories are also introduced.

And so on. As examples of side hustles combined with AI, it is easy to visualize and is structured to appeal to beginners.

However, the photos introduced were all AI-generated or stock images, so it is impossible to tell if they are actual students. Since it is a school with many students, I am sure many have achieved results, but it was a bit concerning.

👉️[Held this week] Participate in the AI Skill Academy free seminar

[Final Stage] Focus on benefit introductions and pricing information

Entering the latter half, the introduction of benefits and explanation of pricing continue.

Phrases like "first-mover advantage," "those who act now will grow," and "you lose if you procrastinate" were repeated, and the sales intensity was quite high.

However, it is a fact that the price is low, and since any school can teach AI skills like ChatGPT, it felt like good value for money as a lifelong learning program that includes support.

⭕️ AI Skill Academy Free Seminar [What was good]

Through the AI Skill Academy seminar,

I felt that the structure was carefully crafted for beginners who say this.

① The lifelong learning one-time payment model lowers the psychological hurdle

While many AI schools use a subscription model, AI Skill Academy is a one-time purchase for about 210,000 yen.

When you combine that with:

it is quite attractive in terms of "ease of getting started."

When beginners choose a school, they often stop due to the anxiety of "can I afford to pay X amount every month?" In that sense, the one-time purchase model is a good design that allows you to start casually.

② LINE support is suitable for beginners

People who have just started using AI often find themselves in a state of "not knowing what they don't know." In such cases, I thought it was significant that they can ask questions via a familiar UI like LINE rather than Slack.

In fact, during the seminar, they repeatedly said, "Feel free to ask questions on LINE anytime," which showed their beginner-friendly stance.

③ The "Tsukuru-kun" series is a strong ally for beginners

The "Tsukuru-kun" series, which is distributed to members as a benefit, is

a tool that automatically generates over 20 types of templates.

This is also designed to lower the initial hurdle for beginners who "cannot write prompts," and I think it is a good lead-in for "getting started with AI."

👉️[Held this week] Participate in the AI Skill Academy free seminar

⚠️ Points of concern

While there were good parts, there were also clear points of concern. Especially in the second half, there were several moments where I thought, "This might be difficult for a beginner to judge."

① The amount of content is small compared to other schools

The number of videos at AI Skill Academy is

.

Although it was mentioned repeatedly during the free seminar that it has "industry-leading content," honestly, compared to major schools, the total volume of content feels small. (*Note: Content volume does not equal value, but I am stating this for comparison.)

With 30 courses and 25+ hours, that's less than an hour of content per course. However, an hour is plenty to learn how to use AI tools, and I think it's sufficient for beginners.

② Quality of content is unknown

While the name of a visiting associate professor at a national university is listed as a content supervisor,there are no other instructors whose names appear in search results.

Compared to other schools, there are fewer people whose activities or expertise can be found through a search, so I could not determine the quality of the content.

■ Who AI Skill Academy is for

I think it is suitable for beginners who fit these descriptions.

As someone who has been in the generative AI industry for a long time, I have had the opportunity to visit various schools and talk to people on the inside, but honestly,the content taught at generative AI-focused schools doesn't vary that much.

Also, just because there is a large volume of content (e.g., over 1,000 items for SHIFT AI), it doesn't mean you need all of it. Whether it's 550 or 1,000, it doesn't change the fact thatyou will likely only watch the 100 or so that are necessary for you.

There is no doubt that you need to learn how to use AI, and just learning how to use ChatGPT can change your life and work, so I think it's good if this serves as a starting point.

The price range is cheaper than the market average

The cost of AI Skill Academy is,

and it is a lifelong learning model.

This can be said to be the lowest price in the industry.

Schools that offer support often have a time limit of 180 to 360 days. For those without a clear goal, I think this is reassuring.

👉️[Held this week] Participate in the AI Skill Academy free seminar

❌️ Who it is not for

Conversely, it is clearly not suitable for the following types of people.

AI Skill Academy is a school specialized in "Generative AI utilization" and is not the type of school that aims to train AI engineers or facilitate career changes. If you want to acquire development-oriented skills, we recommend considering a separate development-focused school.

Also, there is no student community, and the basic format is self-study online plus LINE support.

While there are events and networking sessions, there is no place for participants to interact with each other on a daily basis. Since managing a community is also difficult, it is likely that they are allocating personnel to individual LINE support instead.

Summary

AI Skill Academy is a school worth considering for beginners who want to start learning AI, thanks to its lifelong learning one-time payment pricing in the 210,000 yen range, unlimited Q&A support via LINE, and auxiliary tools for beginners.

On the other hand, you should be aware of the strong sales pitch during the seminar, the difficulty in verifying the existence of case studies, and the structure where "you won't receive the benefits unless you sign up during the seminar."

Rather than being swept away by the atmosphere of the seminar or the sales talk, I believe that making a choice while comparing it with your own goals is the most correct decision, even if it seems like a detour.

👉️[Held This Week] Participate in the AI Skill Academy Free Seminar