You can learn to use ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude well without paying anyone, and most beginners in Nepal should start that way. Pay for a class when you want AI to do a task for you every day, because that is where free material gets thin.

Below is a free plan for three weeks, the settings to change first, and the signs that you are ready for a paid class.

Where can you get free AI training in Nepal?

There are two kinds. Free workshops and events run on fixed dates, fill up fast and then end. Free online courses are open any day, at your own speed, on a phone or an old laptop.

Start with the online ones, because you can repeat a lesson as many times as you need. AI Literacy Nepal teaches what AI is, how it works and where it fails, in English and Nepali. Its Learning AI track needs no maths or programming, and the site says there are no paywalls.

The second option is AI Fluency: Framework & Foundations from Anthropic, the company behind Claude. It is free to register and gives a certificate after a final test. It teaches four habits: Delegation, Description, Discernment and Diligence.

Pick one and finish it before you start the other. One finished course teaches more than two half done.

Week 1: open three free accounts and fix your privacy first

Open free accounts on ChatGPT, Google Gemini and Claude. Claude needs you to be 18 or older. Using all three is the fastest way to see that they answer the same question in different ways.

Before you type anything real, change one setting in each tool. Your chats can be used to train the AI unless you switch this off.

  • In Gemini, open Gemini Apps Activity and turn off Keep Activity. Google's help page says future chats are then not used to train its models, though Google still keeps them for 72 hours.
  • In Claude, open Privacy Settings and turn off Model Improvement. Claude's incognito chats are never used for training.
  • In ChatGPT, turn off "Improve the model for everyone" in its data settings, and use Temporary Chat for anything private.

Some things never go into any AI tool, whatever the settings say. That means passwords, your citizenship or NID number, bank details and anything about a client.

Week 2: learn to ask clearly, then check every answer

A good request has four parts. Google's help pages for Gemini call them persona, task, context and format. You do not need all four every time, but a weak answer usually means one is missing.

Here is a weak request: "write a reply to a customer". Here is a clear one: "You are a polite shop assistant. Reply to a customer who asked if this jacket comes in size M. We have it in black only. Keep it under 50 words, in simple English."

Send the clear one to all three tools and compare the answers. Then change one part, such as the tone or the length, and see what moves.

The second half of this week matters more. AI tools make things up and sound sure while doing it. This is called a hallucination. Check every number, name, date and quote against a real source before you use it. If a tool tells you a tax rate or a government deadline, open the official page yourself.

Week 3: use it on your own boring tasks

Write down three tasks you repeat every week, at work, at college or at your shop. Next to each one, write how many minutes it takes today. This list keeps your practice tied to real work.

Good first tasks are small. Ask AI to explain an Excel formula you copied and never understood, then test it on five rows. Turn a Nepali message into a polite English email. Ask for the action items from a long PDF, then read the PDF to see what it missed.

When one request works well, save it. In Gemini you can turn it into a Gem, a small assistant with your instructions built in. Go to gemini.google.com, click Explore Gems, then New Gem. Write the same four parts, test it in the preview and save it. Now you have a letter writer or a study coach that remembers how you like things done.

How do you know you are ready to pay for an AI class?

You are ready when three things are true. You use AI most days without thinking about it. You check its answers out of habit. And you keep wishing a task would happen without you: an email arrives, a summary lands in a Google Sheet, a reminder goes out on time.

That last wish is automation, and this is where free material gets thin. Connecting a personal Gmail to a tool like Make.com needs a Google Cloud sign-in key, and many people stop at that step when they are alone. Free plans also have limits that catch beginners. A Make.com scenario that checks for new email every 15 minutes can use up a free month in about ten days.

If you only want to write, study and search better with AI, stay free. A free course and a month of daily practice will get you there. Pay when you want the next step, where your tools work together and a person still checks every message before it goes out.

Your next step tonight

Turn off Keep Activity in Gemini and Model Improvement in Claude. Then send the shop reply request above to all three tools, and pick the answer you would really send.

Saarathi Academy in Old Baneshwor, Kathmandu teaches this path in its No-Code AI, Agents and Automation course. It spends two weeks on safe everyday AI, then builds one real automation in Make.com, with no code and up to 10 students in a classroom batch. The week-by-week syllabus is public before anyone pays.