What is AI?
AI, or Artificial Intelligence, has exploded into our general consciousness ever since OpenAI introduced ChatGPT to the world a few months ago.
However, AI is not a new concept. In fact, scientists have been discussing and studying AI since the mid-20th century, if not earlier.
But what is AI? Here are some definitions:
Artificial intelligence is intelligence demonstrated by computers, as opposed to human or animal intelligence.
Artificial intelligence is a machine’s ability to perform the cognitive functions we usually associate with human minds.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) refers to the development of computer systems that can perform tasks that typically require human intelligence. This includes tasks such as speech recognition, decision-making, problem-solving, and learning.
Essentially, AI is getting computers to assist us with certain tasks that require “cognition” or “thinking”.
How are we using AI today?
ChatGPT’s “Hello World” moment accelerated the permeation of AI in our day-to-day lives.
While we’re still some ways from the J.A.R.V.I.S. of Marvel’s Tony Stark (aka Iron Man), the adoption of AI is accelerating, and there are new AI-assisted products and apps being launched everyday.
Where previously Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa and Hey Google AI assistants were more incidental to a how we go about our day-to-day (e.g. “play me this song“, “turn on the bedroom light“), we’re now interfacing more and more with AI directly for higher-order purposes.
- Marketers are using ChatGPT to write copy.
- Programmers are using AI to help write code.
- Doctors are using AI to help diagnose cancer.
- (horrors)… Students are asking ChatGPT to do their homework 😬
How can AI be used for employee training?
AI is transforming the way that learners learn.
1. AI can help create a more personalised learning experiences and pathways for individual learners
2. AI can provide adaptive, personalised assessment – taking into account learners’ strengths and weaknesses based on previous assessment performance.
This also means AI is transforming the way that Learning & Development (“L&D”) Professionals develop training content.
How can AI help L&D professionals in our work?
Artificial Intelligence’s strongest suit is in helping us with the time-intensive and resource-intensive tasks that are involved in L&D work.
Some possibilities of AI in Learning & Development:
1. Machine Learning (an application of AI) can help trainers to translate training content into multiple languages. This increases inclusivity and opens up training to more learners with different language preferences (and abilities).
2. Generative AI can help L&D teams to free up content development time, by automatically generating training content based on defined parameters that the AI is instructed to follow.
3. AI (specifically Natural-Language Processing) can help transcribe or caption training videos automatically, so your hearing-impaired learners can also consume the video training.
4. AI, through studying Learner Analytics patterns, can help identify learning gaps in learners at both individual and cohort levels and make recommendations for follow-up or remedial training.
These are just a few ways that organisations can unlock the benefits of artificial intelligence in training. Generative AI will have an increasingly important role in Learning & Development.
AI will not replace us. Someone using AI will.
What is the role of AI in employee training?
AI cannot replace an experienced and well-trained L&D professional. But AI helps us with completing the time-intensive and resource-intensive L&D tasks, such as research and content creation, very quickly.
As the L&D professional and subject-matter expert, we still retain the final the most important role – which is to curate and ensure the quality of the training content, before rolling out to your learners. So using AI in our L&D work will augment our effectiveness, and give us an edge over not using it.
ArcLab believes that AI has a key role in your workforce training, and AI should be incorporated into your organisation’s learning & development (L&D) process. Because doing so helps you to create training content more efficiently and more effectively. The less time you spent on “grunt” work, the more time you can spend on what matters – Creating Effective Training.
You will find some AI-assisted features in ArcLab’s learning platform. SmartTransform™ helps you create training for your workforce in seconds, and SmartTranslate™ empowers you to create multi-language training so your learners can learn in their native languages.
In a nutshell, you are now able to take 30-minute lectures, and use AI to condense into a series of 3-minute multi-lingual Nano Learning modules – which have been proven to increase the ROI of training.
Start using AI in your L&D. Someone else in another organisation (maybe a competitor) is already doing so.
“AI Brain” Photo by julien Tromeur on Unsplash