Taming the AI Beast: How Artificial Intelligence Can Optimize L&D

There’s a reason recent developments in the world of AI have been met with such a mix of excitement and apprehension: commentators recognize that, whatever else it may be, artificial intelligence is vast — in every sense of the word. 

The datasets used to train generative AIs like ChatGPT are enormous; the scope and volume of their output can be formidable; and the implications of AI’s impact in industries like learning and development are potentially immeasurable. 

Such is the enormity of AI’s ongoing growth that it can start to feel like a huge, wild, and unpredictable animal — and it is tempting to assume that, like the proverbial 800-pound gorilla, it sits where it wants! But while the growth of the AI beast may feel unstoppable, L&D professionals can do more than simply wait and see where it sits. In fact, they have the means to tame it.

Harnessing the power of AI takes a firm grasp of its applications in the learning space. Whether it is the efficiency of administrative automation, the sophistication of personalized learning content, or the motivational effects of learning recommendations, you will not realize the benefits of any AI-related optimizations unless you know what to look for in the latest AI-powered tools and solutions. So: what does an AI learning tool look like?

What Qualifies a Solution as ‘AI’?

If you want to tame AI for L&D purposes, you have to recognize the solutions that make AI work for you. This is a great initial step for two reasons. Firstly, it will allow you to focus on practical features that can augment your learning efforts. Secondly, you will find yourself able to separate the potentially intimidating concept of AI in the abstract from the specific qualities that govern your day-to-day experiences with this technology.

There is no standardized definition for AI platforms, so let us follow the example of an article from MIT, which defines AI as “the capability of a machine to imitate intelligent human behavior”, and goes on to note that “artificial intelligence systems are used to perform complex tasks in a way that is similar to how humans solve problems.” 

So, what complex tasks can learning professionals expect an AI platform to perform?

While this list is not exhaustive, it would not be unreasonable to shop around for AI-powered learning platforms capable of one or more of the following:
 

• Learning from employee data via machine learning algorithms
• Automatically completing administrative tasks
• Anticipating learning requirements and offering recommendations accordingly
• Adapting to feedback and performance data

These characteristics offer a taste of the convenience and sophistication that AI can add to your L&D programs — but even these concepts can feel a little pie in the sky if they are not accompanied by solid use cases to back them up. Let us take a look at some day-to-day examples of an AI-infused learning platform in action.

3 Ways You Can Apply AI to Your L&D Processes

Applying AI to your learning-related processes can take several forms. To illustrate the practical uses for AI in this space, McKinsey’s succinct summary of applied AI comes to mind: “By using artificial intelligence, companies have the potential to make business more efficient.” 

For L&D teams, AI-powered efficiency increases will be felt most keenly in the realms of administration, personalization, and content generation. Let us take a look at each of these in turn.

1) Reduce the Administrative Burden of Course Tagging
Your LMS might be the most pedagogically impressive bastion of knowledge imaginable — but that is not worth much if your learners cannot find the right courses (or cannot recognize how course content relates to their skill development needs). That is why your courses need to be tagged with the skills they teach. The only snag? This can be an arduous process for administrators who undoubtedly have better things to do.

With a little AI intervention, however, it is possible to automate the skills tagging process. An AI-powered platform like Bridge can assess your courses, work out which skills they entail, tag your courses with those skills, and build skills communities of like-minded learners — transforming the process from an administrative slog to a walk in the park.

2) Personalize the Learning Journey with AI Recommendations
We all know that learning functions best as a journey — not as a sporadic engagement with ad hoc courses. An AI platform can bring this ethos to life by automatically recommending training courses based on data like existing employee skills, current skill requirements for your organization’s job roles and industry, and individual employee aspirations.

AI learning recommendations are an efficient way to supply the right learning to the right people, and it is now well-established that personalizing learning around learner interests has a positive impact on achievement.

3) Speed Up Learning Content Creation with Generative AI
While these AI-powered recommendations are a familiar technology, the generative AI capabilities underpinning tools like ChatGPT have opened the floodgates to an exciting new realm of possibilities for L&D practitioners.

Plenty of commentators have noted that generative AI’s use cases include the creation of written content in fields like marketing, law, HR, and so on — and the same is true of L&D. 

Tools like ChatGPT can be used to:
 

• Conjure up modular structures for your learning courses 
• Generate assessments 
• Catalyze the process of populating your authoring tool with top-notch learning content.

The Promise and Limitations of AI in L&D

It is easy to get excited about the possibilities AI represents in the learning space, and with good reason. After all, efficiency is just one of several advantages that AI brings to the L&D table. Auto-tagging is not just fast — it can also offer more consistent and comprehensive results than manual skills tagging. Learning recommendations are not just convenient — they are a great way to motivate learners who know your platform has a data-driven rationale that places their career growth at the heart of its calculations. 

Although these L&D enhancements are fantastic, taming the AI beast involves recognizing when you should not unleash it (or, at least, where you should exercise a little caution). Generating content with a tool like ChatGPT, for example, requires careful oversight by qualified instructional designers and subject matter experts. We have all encountered stories of generative AI tools producing inaccurate information, and that risk is especially acute in the world of L&D, where sharing correct material is essential.

A Final Word: Why AI Should Help Us Optimize L&D

In the world of AI, it is important to retain an evergreen mindset. AI capabilities are constantly evolving, and today’s strengths and weaknesses are tomorrow’s old news. That is why, whatever traits the AI beast develops, our ongoing efforts to tame it should primarily take the form of optimization. It is a sensible middle ground, allowing L&D professionals to refine learning practices and continuously assess the possible uses of AI while remaining mindful of the shifting sands of the sector.

Putting optimization first ensures that we are not simply turning over every aspect of L&D to a technology that is still unfolding — we are using AI tools to sharpen up the workflows, administration, and learning infrastructures supporting the thorough human strategies that make learning work.

If you’d like to discover how Bridge can leverage AI to bolster your L&D initiatives, contact us at info@getbridge.com.

Jeff Fissel is the VP of Learning Solutions at Learning Technologies Group. Jeff has spent his career in the video learning space. He led the integration of what was KZO Innovations' video technology (an organization he was a co-founder of) into the Instilled LXP which combined forces with Bridge to build a market-leading learning and development platform. Jeff has served as an adviser on video to some of the world's top companies and often shares his thought leadership at conferences, web events, and publications with the industry's top outlets. Jeff is currently helping drive product and sales alignment between LTG product and services businesses. He loves talking and learning so please reach out anytime. Connect Jeff Fissel