As AI hype soars, fake courses, upselling scams rise sharply; ASCI warns against misleading claims

"I am trying to switch into graphic designing job for the past nine months but the demand for Artificial Intelligence skills have become more strong with time. AI skills can bolster the pay package by 3x to 5x," said 33-year-old Harsh (name changed) who works at a media and entertainment company.

However, with pressure to upskill myself, I fell into a trap. "I came across a few advertisements about learning AI in Rs 100, Rs 200 or in just a day or week. I enrolled in one such course but during the webinar day, that ad, link, and the profile all disappeared. While it was just Rs 100 but imagine how many people must have paid that amount?"

Like Harsh, another person said he enrolled for an AI course organized by two IIT graduates for Rs 10 and after finishing the session, they started upselling around Rs 14,000 for 4-5 months. According to experts, the rise of such courses is a side-effect of the current hype cycle.

"I enrolled for a digital marketing course of 3 hours for Rs 120 but it was upsold Rs 5000 a month, so I dropped it".

Parth, a tech professional said that if someone is featuring themselves as IIT or IIM Alumnus doesn't mean their courses would be credible. Scammers have learnt this and they are misusing by mentioning it on their profile biodata.

Manisha Kapoor, CEO & Secretary General, Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) told Storyboard1 that digital ads that exaggerate AI learning outcomes are becoming increasingly common. If an ad can substantiate a claim, it's not a problem. But this is not usually the case. Kapoor said that as per the ASCI code, "Advertisements must be truthful. All descriptions, claims and comparisons, which relate to matters of objectively ascertainable fact, should be capable of substantiation." However, we continue to see unsubstantiated claims and influencer promotions without proper disclosures the online education space. ASCI has a robust monitoring mechanism to spot such ads and is taking action accordingly".

'Value of AI courses'

Shantanu Rooj, Founder and CEO, TeamLease Edtech had mentioned that AI courses offer crucial leverage across domains, such as 'Design': AI-powered design tools like Adobe Sensei and DALL‑E streamline creative workflows; 'Finance': AI is used in algorithmic trading, credit scoring, and risk analytics; 'Data Analysis': Core AI/data‑science training teaches essential skills like LLM querying, Python-based analytics, and data visualization; 'Sales and Marketing': AI automates lead generation, customer targeting, content personalization, and campaign analytics.

Notably, a fresh graduate with AI skills now command some of the highest starting salaries - ranging between Rs 7.8 LPA to Rs 10.3 LPA in the tech sector. Recent studies have suggested that 75% of Indian hiring managers wouldn’t hire candidates lacking AI skills.

'What is a right AI course?'

To assess the credibility of AI courses, experts suggested that learners should look beyond flashy marketing and focus on a few core pillars.

According to Hari Krishnan Nair, co-founder of ed-tech firm Great Learning, quality AI programs should offer structured assessments, individual mentorship, and live classes. "Learners should specifically check that the curriculum is being designed by academia and experts," he added.

Vinay Pradhan, Country Manager, India, Udemy said to know whether a course is relevant and informative, review learning objectives and check for peer ratings along with instructor credentials. Look for information about the instructor's qualifications and industry experience to see if the course is applicable to your field.

Further, Rohit Sharma, President - Consumer Business, International Markets, upGrad said that AI foundations courses must cover key concepts like data literacy (how data is collected, cleaned, analysed, and used ethically), computational thinking (logic, probabilities, algorithms, problem-solving), and applied AI skills (prompt engineering, automation, model evaluation, and use-case design). Once these are in place, learners can specialise in areas like GenAI workflows, NLP, or AI productization.

"Shorter courses help if you want to use AI tools for productivity; for example, if you're an accountant wanting to analyse a P&L for insights. While longer courses are required when you need to fundamentally create or optimise your own systems to suit specific requirements; for example, if you are an AI engineer in a bank designing a customer-service bot that meets stringent data privacy and security compliance standards.

In case of companies upskilling employees, Pradhan noted that leadership involvement is crucial. In this stage of upskilling, learning and development teams should ensure leaders and employees develop hands-on familiarity with AI tools, establish clear AI usage policies, understand ethical considerations and risk management.

"Organizations should help employees grow their AI expertise by offering opportunities for them to practise through role play simulations or assignments and labs to ultimately master the skills they are learning", he added.