After over 20 years in the Learning, Development, and Organizational Change field, I have learned a lot about learning. But, the most important thing I have learned is that there is so much more to learn and we can never stop learning.

After months of reading, investigating, trial and error, listening to clients, and learning from my team about Artificial Intelligence (AI), I jumped at the chance to give my perspective on the subject. Tristia Hennessey and James Oakley, two of Evolve’s Instructional and eLearning Designers have started to go deep on how to make best use of AI in the development of learning content.

As a Learning Strategist, I wanted to look at AI from the perspective of L&D Managers and Training Departments of One and dive further into the strategic planning and management of the teams that would use AI tools and platforms. How do you make the most of what is available?

What I found shouldn’t have surprised me, but it did. To be able to plan, implement, and manage AI tools and platforms and the teams that are using them, you, as a manager, first have to know…WHY, HOW, and WHEN to use AI.

For more on the WHEN to use AI – Check out last month’s article The Future of Learning in the Age of AI – The DOs and DON’Ts of AI Generated Training Content.

Why Should We Use AI in Learning & Development? – A Manager’s Perspective

As a Training & Development Manager or L&D Department of One, you know that L&D budgets only go so far. So why should you and your team invest in AI Tools and Platforms?

1. Accelerate and Automate Content Creation

From an L&D Manager’s perspective, especially those “Departments of One,” the best reason to utilize AI is to accelerate and automate the content development process. With AI Tools and Platforms you can:

  • Go from concept to rough outline in minutes, not days.
  • Fill gaps in content and reduce the load on your SMEs.
  • Rapid development of glossaries, terms, and definitions.

The ability to rapidly start, accelerate, and automate content gathering and creation helps to reduce development time and gets the content and learning to your learners as quickly as possible. Ideally, you are able to do more with less—and quickly.

How – Tools to consider: ChatGPT, Character.ai, AI Writing Assistant

2. Personalize the Learning Experience

The next best reason to use AI in L&D is the ability to personalize the learning experience. If you have been in L&D for a while, you know many tools and platforms have integrated “Personalization” features, but they still don’t give the learner what they need. As I have said before, AI can help you do a lot but it still needs the human touch to make it truly personalized.

  • Chatbots and virtual assistants can be used to support the learner at the point of need.
  • AI systems can provide 1:1 tutoring and personalized feedback and guidance throughout the learning journey.
  • AI content generators can be used to create a personalized learning journey.
  • AI can be used to create adaptive testing, assessments, and learning checks that adjust to learner needs.
  • AI tools can predict student performance or identify those learners that may be at risk so you can tailor your content to their individual needs.

How – Tools to consider: ChatGPT, Character.ai, Google Bard, Synthesia

3. Reduce Costs

The last, and probably most important reason why you should consider utilizing AI tools, platforms and strategies is to reduce costs. Unless you are selling your training content and services externally, training is typically a cost center for most organizations. L&D Managers and Training Departments of One are always looking for ways to reduce the cost per learner for their training initiatives. Designing, developing, and delivering training is a time intensive and costly process and any way we can streamline the effort will help to reduce those costs and improve your bottom line.

  • Replace professional narration (where appropriate) with AI-generated narration.
  • Utilize chatbots, virtual assistants, and tutoring systems to support learners in the flow of work – reducing the need for 1:1 training, troubleshooting, and support.
  • Use predictive analytics and adaptive testing to identify learner needs which can reduce the amount of time a learner spends completing training.
  • Use AI content generation tools and applications to create custom scenarios and simulations that mirror systems, tools, and tasks to build skills and capabilities.
  • Use AI powered tools to offer content in different modalities like video segments, explainer videos, and interactions to meet the varied needs of your learners.

How – Tools to consider: ChatGPT, Character.ai, Synthesia, WellSaidLabs, Murf

How to Make the Most of AI Tools and Platforms

As Managers and Training Departments of One, we know that the tools, technologies, and strategies we use change quickly. The world of Learning & Development is light years ahead of where we were just two years ago. Now, with the advances in AI and the rapid acceptance of AI-generated content and tools, we in L&D have a fantastic opportunity to increase our capabilities and capacity, accelerate content development, and personalize the learning experience – doing more with less, and reducing cost.