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The Top 5 AI Tools For L&D
Ross Stevenson
June 11th, 2024
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Today’s Thoughts ☠️
Ahoy there 👋,
I often wonder if I should start these chats by saying “Ta-dah”.
It sounds brilliant in my mind. Yet my mind is also a complicated place to live, so I’ll defer from that for now.
These words are crafted as I work from a converted barn on a farm in the middle of the UK countryside. A sheep, which looks more like the size of a bear, is currently staring me down. I wonder if it’s seeking my advice on L&D or considering whether my grasshopper-type frame would make a good snack.
I assume the latter.
So, I’ll keep it short today because my Wi-Fi is suspect and I’m pretty sure I will have to fight this sheep before I finish writing this week’s chat.
Today, we’ll explore 5 Generative AI tools that are actually worth your time.
Get your tea or beverage of choice ready, 🍵.
We've got lots to discuss!
→ Much love to today’s sponsor, Mindsmith ❤️
In today’s chat:
THE BIG THOUGHT
The 5 Best AI Tools For L&D Teams in 2024
This isn’t just another list of the 25 million AI tools on the market today (99% are irrelevant and will fade away, FYI).
Instead, I want this to be more nuanced. I’ve refined this list to the 5 best tools for L&D teams. I’ve tested each extensively and know they are worth your time.
Sorry to those who were expecting one of those crazy visuals with millions of tools!
You don’t need more tools. You need the right tools, my friend.
Let’s unpack the best AI tools for L&D teams in 2024.
ChatGPT by OpenAI
You most likely have used or at least heard of this one.
Some might argue it is the best AI tool for L&D teams in 2024, but I won’t go that far.
It’s the poster child for the new wave of generative AI tools. I can’t deny its current top billing as the best-performing multi-model conversational AI tool.
It’s incredibly effective.
If Willy Wonka operated a delightful factory of AI tools rather than delicious chocolates, ChatGPT would be his most beloved creation.
What it can do:
Generate new text
Create an array of images
View different file formats including: XLX, PDF, TXT, PNG, JPEG, and more
What you can use it for:
A thought partner to support your ideas and general work
Your research intern
A data analyst that distills complex bloated reports into meaningful insights
Idea generator when nothing seems to work
Cute cat images, if that’s your thing
My favourite use cases:
Thought Partner
LXD Assistant
Research Assistant
Data Analyst
Skills coach
Claude by Anthropic
Meet the lesser known semi-sibling of ChatGPT.
Many of the early team members who built ChatGPT before it became huge left to create Claude. Their mission is to develop a more ethical set of conversational AI tools.
The unique selling point of Claude is it offers limited free use of some features that ChatGPT provides only through paid subscription.
What it can do:
Handle extensive documents or books with up to 100K tokens per prompt
Enhance coding skills and support novices
Summarisation, writing, Q&A, and coding, customisable in tone and behaviour (like most LLMs)
What you can use it for:
Draft, review, and edit documents from business plans to technical documentation
Coding assistance
Research and analysis
My favourite use cases:
Distilling those bloated reports into manageable and meaningful chunks
Serving as a research buddy, summarising large volumes of material for quick insights
Perplexity
Perplexity is like the strategic digital L&D partner I always wanted.
Its support in data analytics and decision-making processes is unmatched. It simplifies and provides valuable insights without the need to write incredibly nuanced prompts.
What it can do:
Conduct conversational search, generating answers from web sources with citations
Summarise search results rather than listing them, prioritising newer sources to ensure up-to-date information
Support file uploads for analysis, including text documents and CSV formats
Refine searches to sources such as YouTube, Reddit, offline, and online
Provide real-time data by surfing the web for the latest answers
What you can use it for:
Problem solving, especially for math related queries using integrated tools like Wolfram Alpha
Analysing large data sources
Uncovering unique insights and thinking critically with its follow-up deep dive questions
My favourite use cases:
Research Assistant
Intelligent data analyst
Fact checker
ElevenLabs
The first of two non-specific conversational AI tools.
I wish I had access to ElevenLabs when I was leading a global team. It would have significantly improved the speed, quality, and cost of language translation.
I appreciate this tool because it supports access to content for all. Language is a big barrier when it comes to content.
What it can do:
Convert text-based resources into audio
Offer multilingual support for videos and audio
Voiceovers for videos
Dub your existing audio and video with your voice into any language
What you can use it for:
Audio and video language translation at speed with quality
High-quality voiceovers
Dub your own voice into 29 languages
My favourite use cases:
Dubbing my voice into any language – amazing yet scary at the same time
Voiceovers for YouTube videos. I like to spice up my content.
Descript
A video editing suite so simple a 5-year-old can master it.
Of course, it comes with AI-powered features to simplify the creation and editing of visual content. It’s easy to use, saves time, and makes your videos look incredibly professional.
What more can you ask for?
What it can do:
Edit videos with user-friendly, AI-assisted tools
Auto – generate subtitles and transcripts for accessibility
Repurpose existing video content into new formats
Create podcasts and voiceovers with built-in recording features
Clone your voice for speedy but slightly eerie creations
What you can use it for:
Create slick videos with little experience
Podcasts and audiograms
Text to voice creations if you’re interested in voice cloning
My favourite use cases:
Producing all my video content – it’s my only video editing tool
Adding subtitles in seconds to any video
Adding studio sound quality to any video
Editing my transcripts. This might sound simple but it’s hard and time-consuming. Descript simplifies this.
Final Thoughts
There you have it, the best AI Tools for L&D Teams in 2024.
The world of AI is an open playground. Every day is a new opportunity to learn (that sounded cheesy, but you get me).
So, experiment, explore, and do cool stuff.
If you feel like I missed one or you want to share your best AI tools for L&D teams in 2024 with me. Share this with me directly.
P.S. If you want to leverage these tools intelligently, consider picking up my AI For L&D Crash Course and AI Prompt Writing For Business bundle to put these into action. Choose to purchase one or add the other for a discount at checkout.
Till next time.
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SMART THOUGHTS
🤔 Should we be scared or impressed?
Apparently, AI only teams with no humans are coming next year.
The startup world seems to think the dream is to make money with AI and no human involvement. Sounds like a pretty crap dream to me.
💡 Supporting the last 100 days
This post from Michelle Perry-Slate got my neurons firing.
Everyone is obsessed with good onboarding, but what about off-boarding? The impressions and final experience we craft for others is vital too.
🔥 This is what practical Generative AI application in L&D looks like
Fact: There are too many reports on potentially how AI can support L&D.
We need more experimentation with meaningful applications beyond those boring content-creation case studies.
Everything is about context.
Here’s a framework to measure what’s meaningful and valuable for you.
How I can help you
My L&D toolkit stack + AI For L&D Lab with 50 zero-cost tools.
Work smarter with AI in L&D with my Crash Course: A 2-hour AI Crash Course for Next-Gen L&D Professionals. Join 300 + students to future-proof your skills and work smarter with practical use cases in L&D.
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