Ready to use AI to scale course creation? We’ll show you how!

The e-learning market size is forecast to hit $297 billion in value by 2033. And AI is quickly becoming part of how we learn. Don’t believe it? Ask the 48% of students who admit to using AI! Or the army of good students trying to prove that they didn’t use AI!

And, really . . . Why does it matter?

AI is here to stay. And rather than fighting AI, why not use it! In this article, we’ll introduce you to AI course creation software. We’ll explain what an AI course creator is, and how you can use it to scale your impact and income. And we’ll give you five examples of course creators that have integrated AI.

An AI course creator uses artificial intelligence to plan and build courses, boost revenue, and engage students! Imagine having a team working on your course, ready to brainstorm topics, build outlines, help with filming (or planning a live event), and keeping students connecting and growing as they learn.

That’s what an AI course creator can do.

And a note. While we often think of AI as a tool to write with (and it can be), it’s so much more! A course creator can use AI for content, engagement, strategy, and business advice.

Oh, and if you love writing… no problem! Don’t give that to AI! It’s important to find a way to use AI that’s comfortable to you, and amplifies your weaknesses without replacing your strengths.

But isn’t AI cheating?

For some reason, a lot of people act like AI is cheating. “If students pay me for a course, and I use AI, does that mean I’m cheating?”

And it’s a good question. But it comes from a common misconception about what people pay for. Students don’t pay for your hard work. They pay for their own transformations!

So if you use AI to get students better results with faster transformations that actually stick, is that cheating? Will they complain?

Not likely. People don’t usually complain when they get the results they want! At the end of the day, AI is a tool (like a calculator).

AI can turbo-charge your course business. NOT by typing prompts into Chat GPT and copying and pasting into your course platform. But by being smart about how you use it!

Here are some of the things you can use AI for:

• Getting strategic about your Ideal Member, their pain points, and how you’ll help them.

• Planning a great course outline that fits the transformation you’re offering.

• Being razor-focused on what your students need, not sharing everything you know.

• Testing and iterating content or course material.

• Creating marketing pages, email copy, and other comms material.

• Evaluating what’s working and understanding your metrics.

On top of this, some AI course creators have amazing features built-in. But we’ll get to that below!

A course isn’t for everyone. Successful course creators get this. Before you hit record or start selling, you need to strategize a bit.

This means finding an Ideal Student.

AI can help you with this brainstorming. But maybe start the old-fashioned way. Sit with a piece of paper and ask.

• Who am I trying to reach?

• What transformation can I help them achieve?

• What’s stopping them?

• What have they tried already?

This is a great start. Now, jump over to your favorite LLM and try some of these prompts:

Prompts

• I’m creating an online course to help people get {THE TRANSFORMATION}. Ask me questions to help me clarify my Ideal Student, their goals, desires, and wins.

• I’m creating an online course to help people get {THE TRANSFORMATION}. Ask me questions to clarify my focus and drill down on the specific transformation I’ll offer.

• Here are my qualifications and experience {LIST THEM}. Give me some ideas for a transformation I could help people achieve with an online course.

But don’t just trust AI! It’s a great tool, but it’s not a good indicator of whether people will actually buy your course. (It’s a bit of a suck-up sometimes, TBH.)

To validate your Ideal Student, ask them! Set up a meeting with 5-10 ideal students. Ask them about their struggles and goals (AI can generate these questions for you too!).

By the end of these, you’ll have a realistic idea of who your Ideal Student is and why they will buy!

Pro Tip: Build a project in your favorite LLM. You can keep programming it with this info, and that way you won’t have to start over each time you use it. After every session, ask, “What do I need to add to your memory from this session?”

If you’re ready with your Ideal Student and the transformation you offer, we suggest a Big Purpose statement next.

It’s basically your mission statement, defining who you serve and how you help them. Your Big Purpose is:

• I bring together . . . {YOUR IDEAL HUMAN} {THE TRANSITION THEY ARE IN}

• So we can . . . {THE RESULTS THEY WANT} {HOW THEY GET THEM}

Here’s an example:

• I bring together new personal finance YouTubers who want to get monetized, so that we can master content, hack growth and SEO, keep your momentum going, and make YouTube your side hustle!

Every Mighty Network has an AI Big Purpose generator built in. Or, you can use this prompt to do it on an LLM.

Prompt

• Use this formula to help me understand the Big Purpose for my course. I bring together . . . {YOUR IDEAL HUMAN} {THE TRANSITION THEY ARE IN}, so we can . . . {THE RESULTS THEY WANT} {HOW THEY GET THEM}

If you have your Ideal Student and their transformation locked in, you can move to creating an outline.

Some course platforms have AI course outlines built-in (see below). This is handy because you can instantly plug the outline into your LMS. Otherwise, you’ll have to do it manually. Mighty Networks can walk you through this.

This is what this looks like:

If you’re doing this the old fashioned way, on an LLM, here are some prompts:

Prompts

• I’m creating a course to help {YOUR IDEAL STUDENT} achieve {THEIR IDEAL TRANSFORMATION}. Create a course outline that helps me give this to them. Ask me any follow-up questions you need to to strengthen the outline.

• I have strengths and experience in {YOUR STRENGTHS AND EXPERIENCES}. I’m creating a course to help {YOUR IDEAL STUDENT} achieve {THEIR IDEAL TRANSFORMATION}. Help me identify how my skills best serve this.

The next step can be designing a learning journey. In the past, most people thought this meant one of two things: writing or recording a course.

But an online course isn’t about the content. Nobody wants your content… (GASP!).

People want transformation! We know this from seeing what works with online courses.

So how do you give that to them? Design a learning journey for your Ideal Student to achieve the transformation they want to achieve. Here are some examples of what this might look like:

• A traditional pre-recorded (AKA asynchronous) online course.

• A livestreamed (AKA cohort) course.

• An engaged online community to meet and work with fellow learners.

• A gamified challenge to make learning fun.

• A live event or conference to cap the course.

• 1:1 or group coaching to make sure the progress happens.

That’s not to say you can’t add great content–especially if you’re known for it. Here are some ideas for that:

• Write or record compelling lesson intros in your voice.

• Host great livestreams by yourself or with guests.

• Record Q&A sessions with students.

• Add articles or thought leadership pieces.

• Host interactive activities or group learning sessions.

• Build or generate great discussion questions to spark conversations.

Remember, just because you use AI doesn’t mean you need to lose yourself (like the Eminem song says!)

Here are some ways to keep the content YOU.

• Infuse it with your own story and journey (Martinus Evans is an amazing example of this!)

• Use your unique voice where you can. If you’re known for your writing, keep writing! Let AI do the other stuff.

• Find your own unique methods, systems, and style. (John Browne of Modern Metal Academy is an awesome example of this!)

Obviously, at some point this course needs some software to hold it. And while there are a ton of great course platforms out there, they aren’t all using AI. And the ones who do use AI primarily use it for content creation, not engagement-building.

Here’s a quick summary.

a. Mighty Networks

AI built for engagement.

Mighty Networks is a course and community platform with a ton of AI features built-in, not just for creating content, but for creating connections. It’s also G2’s top-rated community management software, and it’s used by Marie Forleo, Tony Robbins, Mel Robbins, and Gary Vaynerchuk.

Mighty’s flexible Spaces means you can mix courses

Here’s what Mighty gives you for AI:

• Mighty Cohost, an in-product AI coach to help prompt and guide you through every step of community and course design.

• Big purpose and instant course outlines generator (created structure and lessons in 30 seconds).

• Smart matching, instant profiles, and 1-click introductions help members meet each other.

• Conversation starters and Icebreakers mean AI boosts human connections, doesn’t replace them.

• AI landing pages, community names, and badges.

More of Mighty’s automations:

• Welcome and onboarding: Customize a new member sequence, and personalized DMs for new members and profile responses to connect to specific products. This means smart journeys through the community!

• Engagement and Gamification: Award badges for lesson completions, confetti messages for milestones, bonus points for streaks and attendance, automatic check-ins with absent members.

• Recognition: Celebrate streaks, award points, unlock VIP spaces, and give badges.

Try it now

b. Thinkific

Integrated AI content generation

Thinkific is an online course platform that specializes in pre-recorded or cohort courses. It has good course-building, with integrated course landing pages and some cool AI tools for evaluations.

Here’s what you get:

• An AI course builder generates course outlines and lesson suggestions.

• Course content recommendations for getting started and email generation.

• AI quizzes, landing page copy, and email automations

c. Kajabi

AI content and marketing automations

Kajabi is a well-known course platform that incorporates some useful marketing and funnel tools into course sales. These features include:

• AI content assistant for ideating, outlining, and writing course material.

• Optimizing funnels with AI and creating landing page copy.

• Using AI for email sequences and copy.

NOTE: Kajabi’s AI features currently do not live in-product. They are a public-facing GPT.

There’s one thing that AI CAN NEVER DO! It can’t replace human community and connections. It just can’t.

As you create a course, it’s not just about using AI to automate everything. It’s about using AI to free up more time to boost human connection. OR, even better, it’s about using AI to make human connection even better!

Here are some ways to use AI to build engagement and deliver amazing results:

• Generate awesome Icebreaker discussion questions.

• Create custom field suggestions for member profiles.

• Generate course quizzes and summaries from AI.

Mighty has built-in features for AI community engagement these include:

• Helping members create profiles.

• Helping members find each other and start conversations.

• Re-engaging members who have gone AWOL.

• Welcome students with personalized messages.

• Award badges, host leaderboards, and celebrate milestones.

You can create endless automations that keep your course business growing from dynamite engagement, even if you’re not online!

AI doesn’t just help you with creating a course. As you grow, it can help you figure out what’s working, what isn’t, and how to scale your business.

Most course platforms come with some data built in. You should be able to see: how often students log-on, how much time they spend, where they click, how much they engage, and other critical business numbers.

Run these through AI! Copy and paste the data, and let the LLM do the rest.

Here are your prompts:

Prompts

• I run an online course business. Look at these engagement numbers and help me understand what’s working, what isn’t, and opportunities for improvement and growth.

• These are the revenue numbers for my online course business. What’s working? What isn’t? How can I optimize my business growth?

• Over-reliance on AI: It’s an amazing tool. We’re all in on it. But don’t lose your story and your voice in the process. That’s what helps people connect emotionally to what you’re building.

• Skipping validation: Just because AI said a course is a good idea or helps identify an Ideal Member doesn’t mean they’ll buy. Validating your course takes good old-fashioned leg work.

• Losing site of the transformation: People pay for transformation. Not content. AI can help you create endless content. But you want it to help offer transformation.

• Moving too fast: there’s something to be said for going fast and breaking stuff. But slow down enough to do the deep strategy work.

• Thinking of AI as content only: As this post shows, AI can be way more than just content. It can be your coach, strategy advisor, or community manager. Find creative ways to use AI that work well with your skills, without replacing you!

AI tools will get better. Learning will expand. Students can generate their own courses on an LLM. So why will they pay for what you have?

The answer. People will always want transformation. And they will always want guides who have gone before, not just a robot with endless answers. They’ll want a human with a story, and imperfections.

So use AI to grow your skills and improve your course business. But don’t lose sight of your own story in the process. It’s what separates you from the machines!

If you’re ready to maximize AI for your online course, come try Mighty! It’s free to try for 14 days. You can generate your course outline, instantly identify your Ideal Member, and create a journey that leads to incredible transformation.

Like the name implies, it’s a course creator that uses AI to build and/or grow course creation and impact. This can include writing content, but it can go further than this and help with member engagement, course business strategy, and automating course creator’s work.

No. As we said above, people pay for transformation. AI is a tool that can help you transform the lives of the people who take the course. Students pay for that transformation, and frankly they don’t care whether you put 1 hour or 100 hours into it–as long as they get it.

Plus, AI can make you better as a course creator. You can better identify an Ideal Student, clarify strategy, and streamline content. It’s not cheating, it’s an asset.

There are a mixture of content tools (most platforms) and engagement tools (only Mighty). Here’s what to look for, depending on which of those you prioritize:

• Instant course outlining and/or generation (ideally built-in so you don’t have to copy & paste).

• Help with marketing copy and landing pages.

• Automated student journeys with triggers for different events.

• Icebreakers and quizzes to boost engagement

• Instant profile generation and member matching.

• Data analysis and business intelligence.

It’s not totally different. As we showed above there’s crossover.

It’s all about how the platform uses AI. If a platform creates a custom GPT to embed on its platform and create content, that has some value.

But the real value comes from the intelligent use of AI, not just for content, but to integrate into students’ journeys in a way that boosts outcomes.

After all, as we’ve said all through this article, students pay for transformation, not content. Look for AI that helps with a transformation.

It may replace some course instructors–especially if we think about courses as paying for information. But if you can become an instructor who helps students get transformation with your unique skillset and your story, you’ll always be in high demand.

Here are some sample costs for the software we’ve covered in this article.

• Mighty Networks: $99/mon with 14-day free trial (no credit card required)

• Kajabi: Starts at $89/mo (but there’s no in-product AI)

• Thinkific: Most AI features available on the $99/mo plan.

The short answer, yes! We’ve talked a lot about how to create and position yourself in this article. Here are some smart ways to use AI for marketing and sales:

• Strategizing and nailing down your Ideal Member

• Creating or improving social posts

• Generating landing page or email copy and content.

• Optimizing funnels and sales processes.

• Analyzing conversion data and helping you improve.

• Use AI for everything you need to, but infuse everything with your unique personal story and perspective.

• Let AI handle areas you’re not great at. For example, if you love to teach but hate writing marketing emails, maybe let AI help you.

• Use AI for big picture thinking: strategy, data analysis, and planning new products. Nobody sees this, it's just to help your thinking as a course creator!

• Think of AI as your assistant, not your replacement.