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AI Course Builder — and giving it a cover image

The full AI Course Builder writes your whole course from a short brief — title, description, modules, lessons, quizzes, SEO. It doesn't draw a cover, so here's how to add one in a click right after.

Last updated May 31, 2026

There are two AI tools for courses. The lightweight one fills the new-course form from a title (see 'Draft a course from just the title'). This article is about the bigger one — the AI Course Builder dialog — which generates an entire course from a short brief, and then how to give that course a cover image, since the builder produces text, not artwork.

Open the builder

  • Go to /dashboard/courses.
  • Click AI Course Builder (it sits next to New course).
  • If you don't see it, your workspace operator hasn't connected an AI provider yet — the button hides itself rather than showing a dead control.

The brief you fill in

  • Title — the only required field.
  • Description, Category, Audience — optional; leave blank and the AI infers them.
  • Level (beginner / intermediate / advanced) and Language.
  • Tone — conversational, formal, practical, or encouraging.
  • Duration — Short (1–2h), Medium (3–5h), or Full (8–12h). This scales how many modules and lessons it writes.
  • Price and Original price — optional.
  • Keywords — comma-separated, used for the SEO fields.
  • A quiz per module — on by default.
  • Custom instructions — anything specific you want it to follow.

What it generates

  • Title, subtitle, and a full description.
  • Modules, each with lessons (lessons come in as the Reading / text type — swap any to video, quiz, etc. in the curriculum editor).
  • A quiz per module when you leave that toggle on.
  • Marketing copy: what students will learn, requirements, and feature bullets.
  • SEO fields and an FAQ.
The AI Course Builder does not create a cover image. When you click Create as Draft, the course is saved with a plain placeholder thumbnail and opens in the editor — adding the cover is the next step below.
AI Course Builder title · modules · lessons quizzes · SEO Draft course placeholder cover (no image yet) Regenerate designed cover Upload your own Search Unsplash Design a gradient cover Cover options in the course editor
The AI builder writes the course text and leaves a placeholder cover; you add the real cover in the editor.

Add a cover image (in the editor)

After Create as Draft you land in the course editor. The Thumbnail field is where the cover lives, with four ways to fill it:

  • Regenerate designed cover — one click composes a cover for you: a stock photo picked to match your category, with your course title and a few details (module/lesson counts) laid over it. It's generated from your course, not from an AI image prompt, so the same course always produces the same cover. Click again any time the title changes.
  • Upload — drop in your own image or paste an image URL. It's auto-compressed for fast loading.
  • Unsplash — search the free Unsplash photo library and optionally lay your title text over the photo.
  • Design — pick from preset gradients and type a title + subtitle for a clean, text-only cover.
There's no AI image generator (no 'describe a picture and get art'). The 'Regenerate designed cover' button composes a real photo plus your text — reliable and on-brand, with no surprise AI artwork.

While you're there: the social-share image

The editor can reuse the same composer for your social-share (Open Graph) image — there's a Use the course cover button, or it auto-fills from the cover when you leave the social image empty. That's the picture that shows when someone shares your course link on WhatsApp, X, or LinkedIn.

Whatever the AI wrote is a first draft. Read the modules, fix anything that doesn't fit your audience, set a cover, then publish.

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