**Introduction to Open Source AI Development with Ollama** is a hands-on course designed to teach you how to build powerful AI applications using free and open source tools. You'll learn how to install and use Ollama, work with popular open source large language models such as Llama, Phi, Gemma, and Mistral, and develop AI-powered applications using Python and Flask. Along the way, you'll gain practical experience with prompt engineering, model management, REST APIs, and best practices for running AI locally on your own computer. As you progress through the course, you'll move beyond basic AI interactions and learn how to build intelligent applications using Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG). You'll create a local knowledge base, generate embeddings, work with vector databases, and build a complete AI knowledge assistant capable of answering questions about your own documents—all without relying on cloud-based AI services. Whether you're a software developer, IT professional, student, or technology enthusiast, this project-based course will provide the practical skills you need to begin developing secure, private, and powerful AI applications using today's leading open source technologies.