Foundational skills that make everything else easier
Master these three skills and you'll unlock the full power of AI: Markdown for documents, HTML for interactive content, and GitHub Pages to publish and share your creations with the world — for free.
Markdown is a super simple way to format text. It's what AI uses to format its responses — headings, bold text, bullet lists, tables. It's clean, free of unnecessary formatting, and easy to read and edit. When you ask AI to create documents, ask for Markdown format — then paste it into Google Docs or your word processor.
This is a paragraph with bold and italic text.
| Country | Capital |
|---|---|
| France | Paris |
| Japan | Tokyo |
| Brazil | Brasilia |
First, enable native Markdown support in Google Docs: go to Tools → Preferences and check "Enable Markdown". This unlocks features like Paste from Markdown and automatic Markdown formatting.
For advanced Markdown use, you may optionally install the Docs to Markdown plugin from the Google Workspace Marketplace. However, native Markdown support is more than enough for most users and our scenarios.
When asking AI to write a document, add: "Please output in Markdown format". The result will be clean, well-structured text without any messy formatting.
Copy the Markdown text from your AI tool, then in Google Docs use Edit → Paste from Markdown (or right-click and select "Paste from Markdown"). Google Docs will automatically convert the Markdown into beautifully formatted text — headings, bold, lists, links, and more will all render correctly.
Note: The Paste from Markdown option is only available if you completed Step 0 (enabling Markdown in Preferences). If you don't see it, go back to Tools → Preferences and make sure "Enable Markdown" is checked.
Google Docs can export directly to Markdown! Go to File → Download → Markdown (.md). This gives you a clean Markdown file you can feed back to AI, use in GitHub, or convert to any other format. It works the other way too — you can open a .md file in Google Docs and it will render with full formatting.
Markdown is clean — no hidden formatting that breaks when you copy-paste. It's universal — works everywhere. And it's how AI thinks — you'll get better results when you speak its language.
When you want to create something that people can open in a browser and interact with — like a website, a quiz, an interactive chart, or a presentation — ask AI to give you HTML. You don't need to learn HTML. The AI writes all the code for you. You just save the file and open it in Chrome or any browser.
Question 3 of 10
When did the Bastille fall?
Score: 2/2 correct
1. Ask AI to create whatever you want as "a single HTML file" — 2. Copy the code AI gives you — 3. Save it as something.html on your computer — 4. Double-click to open in your browser. Done!
You can share the file with anyone — they just open it in their browser. No apps to install, no accounts to create. This very website you're reading right now is an HTML file created with AI.
Essays, reports, notes, study guides, emails, documents you'll paste into Google Docs or Word
Quizzes, interactive presentations, games, charts, websites, anything others will view in a browser
You don't need to learn either format. Just tell AI what you want and say "in Markdown" or "as an HTML file" — AI does the rest!
The more you understand these formats, the more powerful your AI results become. It's about communication, not coding.
Mermaid lets you create professional diagrams — flowcharts, timelines, mind maps, sequence diagrams — just by writing simple text. AI writes the Mermaid code for you. Just describe your diagram, paste the code into the Mermaid Live Editor, and export it. You can also use Mermaid to explain complex flows and processes to AI.
Rendered from Mermaid code
Mermaid supports flowcharts, sequence diagrams, Gantt charts, mind maps, timelines, pie charts, class diagrams, and more. The code is text-based, so AI can generate and modify it easily. GitHub renders Mermaid natively in Markdown files, and the Live Editor lets you export as PNG or SVG.
Pro tip: You can also use Mermaid to explain complex flows to AI — paste a Mermaid diagram in your prompt so AI understands your process or architecture at a glance.
You've created an amazing interactive app, game, or website with AI. Now what? Share it with the world for free using GitHub Pages. Anyone with the link can use your creation — no hosting fees, no server setup, no technical knowledge needed.
Go to github.com and sign up for a free account. This is your home for publishing websites and sharing code.
Click "New repository", give it a name (this becomes part of your URL), and make sure it's set to Public. Think of a repository as a folder for your project.
Click "Add file" → "Upload files" and drag your HTML file in. Important: name your main file index.html — this is what GitHub Pages will show when someone visits your site.
Go to your repository's Settings → Pages. Under "Source", select "Deploy from a branch", choose "main" branch, and click Save. In a few seconds, your site is live!
Your site will be live at https://yourusername.github.io/your-repo-name/. Share this link with anyone — they can open your interactive creation instantly, on any device. This very website is hosted on GitHub Pages!
No hosting fees, no credit card, no limits for personal projects. GitHub Pages is completely free.
Upload a new version of your file and the site updates automatically. Iterate fast with AI.
Games, quizzes, portfolios, interactive stories, data visualizations — if AI can build it, GitHub Pages can host it.
You can even use a custom domain name! GitHub Pages supports free HTTPS and custom domains for a professional touch.