MANILA -- Google is offering free courses on artificial intelligence (AI) as well as several other IT courses focused on data analytics and cybersecurity.

Yves Gonzalez, Google Philippines Public Policy & Government Relations Head, said the company is doing this to help Filipinos prepare for jobs of the future.

"These will make career paths in AI more accessible. And the good news is, this is free. Anyone can access this anytime, anywhere at no cost," he said.

"The courses feature a wide array of topics including the difference between generative AI and other types of AI, responsible AI, and machine learning, and much much more," Gonzalez noted. 

"After this, learners can pursue other machine learning and data science courses," he added.

Google launched free AI courses after partnering with think-tank Economist Impact in a survey that asked about what skills employees wanted to learn in order to improve in their jobs.

The survey showed that 42 percent of Filipino employees want to learn AI and machine-learning skills--higher than the Asia-Pacific region's average of 33 percent.

According to the poll, 68 percent of Filipino employees want to learn self-management, or the ability to manage time, tolerate stress, and learn quickly at work. 

After self-management, Filipino workers are also keen on learning digital skills, like how to provide information technology (IT) support and cybersecurity.

In this regard, Google is launching 3 new courses under its Google Career Certificates program: business intelligence, advanced data analytics, and cybersecurity. 

This is on top of the six courses they are already offering: data analytics, IT automation, IT support , project management, UI/UX design, and e-commerce. 

There are an additional 1,000 certificate scholarships on offer this year from Google, Gonzalez noted.

In 2022, Google said they gave 39,000 career certificate scholarships to help boost Filipino's employability.

Gonzalez said they give scholarships in partnership with government agencies like the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).

But the courses are also available on learning platform platform Coursera for a small fee, he added. 

Google said their certificate courses have had more than 6,000 graduates in the Philippines, around 80 percent of whom said they have experienced a boost in their career after taking the courses.