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Why AI won’t change L&D as much as you think
Ross Stevenson
April 16, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 12 minutes
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Today’s Thoughts ☠️
Ahoy there 👋,
I often wish I had a more entertaining way to start these conversations.
Something akin to Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek the Next Generation.
For those who know not what I speak of, JLC starts his private captains logs off saying “Captain’s log star date 45000”. Something to that effect.
Alas, I shall continually strive for that elusive cool opener.
This has zero to do with today’s chat, btw. I hear mind wandering is good so I thought I’d share just a little of the chaos that goes on in my mind.
Recently, I was part of a webinar line-up with L&D researcher and Head of the Learning Technologies conference, Don Taylor. We talked about cutting through the AI hype to find meaningful use of Gen AI tools.
Today, we’ll explore a few reflections from that conversation and why some things won’t change but a lot will.
Get your tea or beverage of choice ready, 🍵.
We've got lots to discuss!
→ Much love to this weeks sponsor, Learnerbly ❤️
In today’s chat👇
THE BIG THOUGHT
Why AI won’t change L&D as much as you think
Don Taylor and I joined the team at Colossyan to chat about practical AI applications, how to intelligently assess tools and answer burning questions from the audience.
We all had a good time. Well, I did, I can’t vouch for the others, but you can by watching the replay.
Reflecting on the session, two things now come to mind for me:
AI won’t change the role of L&D pros as much as you think
Most L&D pros haven’t figured out what to do with the time AI could give them back
There wasn’t enough time to explore each in detail in the 15 min Q&A session.
Here’s my thoughts on both:
Everything's changing, but not that much
Too many of us have an inflated view of current Generative AI capabilities.
The way some people talk to me, they think it can do anything they want. Sorry to be the party killer, but it can’t. These perceptions come down to lack of understanding the fundamentals of how generative AI tools work.
Which is why we see too many overstatements of the importance of GEN AI on social media.
We expect it to do more human stuff. But, you don’t want that. You should be doing the human stuff and using AI to enhance the low-level tasks that stop you from maximising your human capabilities.
Of course, no popular online person will say that. It’s not dramatic enough.
The business of people
In our time together, Don made a great point, “Tools change but the role doesn’t”.
This is right on the money.
Our role has been and still is to enhance skills and the performance of a workforce. I don’t see this being massively disrupted with GEN AI tools. It’s good to remind yourself that GEN AI is just one of the tools at your disposal.
It’s not your whole strategy for learning and performance.
We’re still in a business of people. That business needs a unique human touch as it involves figuring out problems other humans experience. Try explaining that to ChatGPT.
To navigate the complexities of humans you need awesome human skills.
What are those skills exactly? These, my friend:
Critical thinking
Emotional intelligence
Analytical judgement
Decision making
Explaining, talking and emphasising like only a human can
In my time so far, I’ve seen very few people get to senior roles on technical skills alone.
If they have, a lack of strong human skills has been their blocker to going further and even performing where they’re. You might have examples of this in your workplace too.
The future is still human-powered.
If you want to do well, get clear on the fundamentals of new technology and leverage it with your unique human skills.
Perhaps, that’s a formula we can all adopt.
He’s right about those plans
What to do with all that time AI saves you
There’s an obsession with using AI to save time by speeding up tasks.
Yet, no one asks - at what cost to quality?
It seems too many will sacrifice quality for speed. Where does that leaves us? Nowhere good that’s for sure.
Building on from that, what do we intend to do with the x amount of hours saved?
Stare into the abyss, create even more pointless content or do more human stuff. I’d recommend (and hope) you do number 3. We’re in the business of people, after all.
I like to think we spend more time doing that performance consulting we all rave about at conferences. You know, building relationships across the business to give us the real insight on performance blockers.
AI can’t do all that (yet).
I’m asked weekly, “What will AI pros do in a world of AI and automation?”
The answer is the same thing: Build relationships, focus on performance and enable the environment, systems and culture to enable people to do their best work.
Somewhere along the line we lost sight of the uniquely human practice we nurture.
→ It’s not your fault.
If you have a $400 billion learning technology industry determined to sell you products, it’s hard for your mind to compete with those marketing budgets. This doesn’t mean tech is not useful.
Digital technology is a incredible enhancer to what we do. But, it’s not the only thing we do.
So, the answer to how do I navigate the AI tech wave to future-proof my L&D career is quite simple:
Always invest in your digital intelligence aka understanding the fundamentals of the latest tech
Be more human
Prompt playground: Try it yourself
Copy and paste this into your AI assistant of choice to think critically about the future of L&D.
# Context
I'm a learning and development professional who wants to explore the opportunities and implications for generative AI in my industry.
I want to cultivate a diverse set of views on both the good and bad of this technology for helping humans learn and grow. This should include how the traditional L&D industry could change.
# Task
Your task is to help me cultivate a balanced view as shared in my context.
To begin, I want you to provide a general overview of the potential impact (good and bad) of generative AI technology in corporate L&D.
## Task 2
Next, you will ask me questions to explore my own thoughts on the topic. Don't be afraid to challenge my views. Your goal is to encourage me to find a balanced viewpoint that considers many points of view.
Begin with the overview and provide the sources from which you used to create your response.Final Thoughts
A few resources to help you
I’m hosting a free 1-hr session on a Intro to Generative AI for Beginners on 2nd May. It won’t be recorded and is limited to 100 people. Join here.
If you want to learn practical applications for AI tools in your work as a L&D pro I have a 2-hr online course to support you. 300 L&D pros have taken the course to accelerate their skills.
Zero-cost insights, guides and tutorials on using AI in your work in my AI For Work Lab.
Till next time.
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The best part is it connects directly into your company’s knowledge. No more endlessly searching Sharepoint sites for valuable knowledge with this by your side.
SMART THOUGHTS
Stuff that caught my eye this week.
🤔 Talking practical AI insights with GetAbstract and Elai
I found myself on two podcasts this week.
Many people ask me “why don’t you have a podcast”. Easy answer, the world doesn’t need another L&D podcast. I’m on about 100 others every year
I spent time on both podcasts cutting through the AI hype to focus on meaningful use for work and life. Listen to the L&D in action with GetAbstract and the EdTalks live podcast for some serious AI myths debunking.
💡 How to survive the upcoming L&D conference seasons AI-pocalypse
A quick reminder of last weeks exploration into 10 killer questions to ask at any L&D conference you attend this year on a products AI capabilities.
It’s also a nod to consider that we have many more tools than generative AI in our world.
🔥 In non-AI news: An introverts guide to visibility at work
You could say the hybrid world of work is levelling the playing field, it’s still hard for the introverts out there.
I’ve always been the type of person to say less and show what I can do. Sometimes it works, but not always. Balance is often needed. I enjoyed these tips from Harvard Business Review on increasing your visibility in a noisy world.
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