If you’re like me, your social media feed is inundated with talk of ChatGPT and AI. From blogs titled “5 Ways AI Will Replace Your Job” to posts claiming that anyone who isn’t an early adopter will be left behind, it can be really intimidating. Although the technology is promising, don’t be fooled by bad actors or exaggerated claims. The ways that AI can improve L&D promises to make us more efficient and help us serve a broader audience of learners—but first we have to move past the hype.
Four Things AI Cannot Do (Yet)
1. AI can’t think like an L&D pro.I take issue with those who say that AI will replace instructional designers and other L&D content creators. Although AI could replace people on L&D teams who crank out content exactly as requested and don’t need to measure the effectiveness of that content, it cannot replace good instructional designers. AI cannot conduct a thorough needs assessment and analysis. AI isn’t talented enough yet to build trust and the relationships needed to collaborate successfully with subject matter experts and stakeholders. There are problem-solving and critical thinking skills that are still best left with the learning experts.
2. AI can’t replace Google.
Scrolling through LinkedIn, there are tons of examples where someone used ChatGPT instead of searching for the same thing on Google. Not only would searching have taken less time, but it comes with references—ChatGPT does not. The accuracy of the information is one of AI’s biggest drawbacks. Just ask ChatGPT about learning styles, and it’ll return a myth that was debunked decades ago! This is just one reason why you shouldn’t use ChatGPT or other chat AI programs to create learning assets. Clients won’t be angry with ChatGPT if assets are published with misinformation—they’ll be upset with the L&D team. Until these tools provide more context, stick with information whose sources can be verified.
3. AI can’t avoid uncanny valley.
Uncanny valley is the “hypothesized relation between an object’s degree of resemblance to a human being and the emotional response to the object.” It describes the feelings of fear, uneasiness, or even revulsion at things that are attempting to be human but aren’t quite human. Need an example? Check out the hands and eyes of an AI art generator—especially one that attempts to create your likeness based on an uploaded photo. Many art generators, videos with humanoid avatars, and text-to-speech generators are stuck in the uncanny valley. Some products are getting closer to reality, but it will still be some time before they are believable. For now, avoid things that could accidentally repulse your audience.
4. AI can’t protect proprietary information.
Privacy concerns with AI tools have been in the news. Your clients or organization may already have a policy in place warning employees not to share proprietary information with AI tools. At the time of publication, ChatGPT says in its privacy policy that the information you share in prompts can be used to train the chatbot. A bug with ChatGPT recently revealed some of this shared information with other users. Companies are acting quickly to enact policies to ensure their intellectual property and trade secrets remain protected. If you are planning to use AI tools to create learning assets, don’t share proprietary information.
Three Things AI Can Do for L&D Professionals
1. AI can make processes more efficient.AI can make administrative tasks more efficient. For example, you can use AI tools to automate responses after learning experiences or even to draft pre- or post-training communication. Some learning management systems are using AI algorithms—much like Netflix does—to make recommendations to learners about what learning assets to consume next. AI can be used to create prototypes. For example, for an instructional video, teams can use text-to-speech generators to give stakeholders an idea of what something will sound like so that narration doesn’t have to be recorded while the project is still in flux.
2. AI can generate new ideas.
Although you shouldn’t rely on AI to create all your content, you can use it for ideas. If you are writing scripts or lessons, you can use chatbots to help generate ideas for stories or topics. If you’re creating graphics, AI art generators could provide inspiration for how to illustrate something. If you consider AI a tool and something to assist with your craft, much like a stock photo or video website or an e-learning authoring tool, you can control the content and make sure it’s still accurate and high quality.
3. AI can help us reach a broader audience.
When considering accessibility, AI can help with solutions for your audience. AI can be used to generate transcripts from audio files. Although those transcripts often need cleanup and editing, it’s usually minimal, and they get most of it correct, saving valuable time. In the same way, AI translation tools can get you started translating learning assets before sending content to a professional. AI tools can also be used to generate alt text for images. The possibilities are endless if we look at how AI is being used to help all employees access L&D content.
AI is complicated. There are a lot of drawbacks and questions. There’s still a lot of fear because we don’t fully understand the possibilities of AI right now. However, despite being wary, we can use AI to streamline processes, generate ideas, and make our learning available to even more people than before.
For more information and resources, check out ATD's AI resource page.
