As generative AI advances, there is a growing need to learn how to use these powerful tools not only in our work, but in our everyday lives. Generative AI Essentials: Overview and Impact introduces students to large language models and generative AI tools like ChatGPT. In this course, you will learn the basic principles of generative AI, how to use AI ethically, its impact on authorship, and what regulation of generative AI might look like. This course brings together University of Michigan experts in communications technology, economics, artificial intelligence, natural language processing, architecture, and law to discuss the impact of generative AI on our current society and its implications for the future. This course is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, except for the course image.