Directing The Shift: AI’s Impact On Learning, Development, And Leadership

Opportunities and best practices

Since the arrival of ChatGPT and other AI technologies on the scene in early 2023, there have been significant promises made. AI was predicted to make leadership and learning faster, more efficient, and more impactful.

But, as we look back, how is AI really changing leadership and learning?

Despite numerous company meetings and initiatives, there remains uncertainty and a lack of focus on how to maximize AI’s impact on learning and development (L&D).

Just like any new technology, you need to know how to handle AI to truly make the most of it. The breakneck speed of its progress is leaving skill gaps within organizations, making it tricky for your L&D teams to fully utilize these capabilities and achieve results. On top of that, there are significant obstacles to AI adoption, like legal, security, and data privacy concerns.

While L&D leaders are feeling the heat to do more with less and regain time to return focus to business goals, they are also tasked with elevating learning experiences with engaging and interactive experiences.

However, organizations are still facing real changes across various areas of the learning experience. It's clear now that AI is going to have a big impact on management and learners for the long haul. Embracing our curiosity and becoming proficient in using AI tools is crucial to understanding what the technology means strategically for L&D teams and organizations as a whole.

Taking a Step Back

Make no mistake, AI has had a huge impact on our lives, most notably by making tasks faster and more efficient. It speeds up everything from coding to writing emails, giving us the ability to do more in less time. In particular, generative AI has fundamentally transformed the way we interact with technology and data, making it easier for us to get what we need using natural language as opposed to learning the specific syntax of a system.

Chat interfaces have become so user-friendly that anyone can use powerful tools without needing to be a computer genius, and the technology continues to be shared and democratized worldwide and across industries. At the moment, we're currently in a chat-dominant interface phase, but soon we'll progress to even more natural, human-focused interfaces. Users will not only be able to ask AI questions but also gain business insights, take actions, and complete tasks using the same AI tools.

Take, for example, a situation where a manager gives AI the command "assign my team the most recent compliance training." While it seems like a simple request, it requires AI to understand different factors, such as your identity, your team's structure, and the specific regulatory training in question. The AI is designed to deduce this information seamlessly by integrating a variety of distinct data repositories and frameworks through a pervasive chat interface.

AI's speed makes decision-making faster, as business leaders have instant access to data and analysis to inform their choices and even consider predictive analysis. Additionally, AI can assist L&D teams in customizing and personalizing the learning experience, helping them achieve better results with less effort.

AI with Learning and Development

Today’s leaders are looking for employees who can learn and put that knowledge into practice quickly. A 2023 report from the Association of Talent Development (ATD) states that talent development professionals’ top outcome when using AI in L&D is quicker learning deployment. The report states that L&D companies are predominantly looking to use AI-powered applications for leadership development, employee onboarding, and technical or product training.

With AI, the focus is shifting from knowledge to skills-based learning. Advanced generative AI tools integrated into learning management systems (LMS) have the capability to swiftly produce summaries, exams, scripts, images, videos, and even entire courses, heightening the efficiency of L&D teams.

Additionally, AI can deliver personalized learning experiences on a large scale, allowing learning journeys to be tailored based on individual interests and requirements. Each learner has a distinct learning style, and through AI and automation, prompts and courses can be delivered at well-timed moments to enable learners to focus on their specific goals, no matter a company’s size. Furthermore, AI can enhance the overall learning experience by offering scenario-based learning, wherein learners engage in role-playing scenarios with AI, creating a realistic and tangible experience that can be directly applied in real-life situations.

Leading the Charge: How to Prepare for AI

AI applications can create visuals, determine appropriate assets for new courses, or curate specific content for learners; however, there are always concerns about accuracy and control. While AI models are known to sometimes hallucinate or provide false and inaccurate responses, leaders and L&D teams must have oversight to ensure that any technology supporting a learner is precise, relevant, and accurate. Humans interacting with AI must understand how to properly use the tools, interpret the responses, and look out for anomalies. Additionally, the AI-powered tools themselves must provide built-in protections against inaccurate responses.

Creating, updating, and managing content is a huge responsibility for L&D teams and can be incredibly time-consuming. Learners need personal and localized content in their learning experiences. Authoring tools must be able to create high-quality, personalized assets that are engaging and interactive for learners, and as it stands, L&D teams have the Sisyphean task of continuously supplying a substantial and timely volume of work, usually with legacy content.

AI offers the ability to pull from existing knowledge bases to jumpstart the creation process by formulating learning courses or assets that are directly aligned with a company's learning objectives, policies, and procedures. As said before, L&D teams can utilize AI-powered technology to provide bespoke learning journeys at scale. Whether a company has 100, 1,000, or 50,000 employees, AI can help create adaptive assessments that are personalized and are based on learners' skill proficiency.

Humans can then edit and refine the materials, depending on the organization’s messaging, desired outcomes, or target audience.

Opportunity, Not Obstacle

If we cut through the hype and gain understanding of the challenges associated with AI adoption, there is real value in AI for L&D. AI technology is transforming the management and delivery of information and learning, and learning platform providers need to streamline integrations and address their customers' adoption barriers. They have the opportunity to positively transform the way leaders and employees engage with data and systems. Businesses that can skillfully and responsibly implement AI-powered tools stand to dramatically enhance their organization and worker's productivity, efficiency, and skill level.

Steve McCurry is the VP of Product at LearnUpon.