Anna Poli

“AI won’t replace you, but an instructional designer who uses it wisely just might.” That’s the mindset e-learning professionals are adopting in 2025.To explore where AI fits into modern course development and how experienced IDs are using it to support their daily workflows, we spoke with Anna Poli, a senior instructional designer at iSpring. 5 Practical Ways to Use AI With Instructional DesignAI in learning and development has generated considerable hype, but it has not fulfilled every promise to instructional designers. It didn’t turn SMEs into content geniuses, fully automate course creation, or replace the need for instructional judgment and the human touch.Still, when used strategically, it’s a powerful assistant, saving time, reducing repetitive tasks, and creating space for deeper design work. Here are five areas where it can make a real difference:1. Early-Stage Course PrototypingInstead of starting with a blank slide, AI helps generate a rough outline or suggest slide content based on a topic, script, or meeting notes.“I enjoy using Copilot in PowerPoint paired with iSpring Suite Max as an add-on. It lets me build a course flow from scratch and enhance it with interactivity: quizzes, branching scenarios, or video narration,” says Anna Poli.AI-supported prototyping helps instructional designers test ideas, share early drafts with stakeholders, and refine structure and flow before investing time in full-scale production.2. Training Content RepurposingFor senior instructional designers managing large content ecosystems, AI course creators offer a practical way to develop and adapt courses without starting from scratch. Long-form assets, such as webinars, manuals, or SME recordings, can be transcribed, summarized, and restructured into self-paced modules, interactive microlearning, or quizzes within minutes. With AI, it’s also easier to maintain consistency across formats, identify gaps or redundancies, and adapt content to different roles or learner levels.3. Localizing Content for Global TeamsWhen rolling out training across multiple regions, AI-powered translation tools like DeepL or built-in features in authoring platforms can translate course scripts, assessments, and UI elements with a few clicks, providing IDs with a strong draft before human review.“I usually start with AI-generated translations to get the base version out quickly,” says Anna Poli. “Then, I loop in regional reviewers for cultural nuance and terminology. It saves hours of back-and-forth.”4. Enhancing AccessibilityAccessibility is about giving every learner a fair opportunity to engage, absorb, and apply what they’re learning. But in large-scale learning projects, this is often treated as an afterthought, when time and resources are running low. AI helps shift that work to an earlier point in the process. Instructional designers can:Generate voiceovers using text-to-speech tools while content is being finalized.Add auto-captioning to training videos, making them easier to follow for learners watching without sound.Draft alt text for visuals, diagrams, and screenshots, which can then be quickly refined for context.Adapt reading-level complexity, making content clearer for diverse learner groups.5. Generating Knowledge ChecksGood assessment questions take time to develop, especially when you need to challenge learners at different levels of Bloom’s taxonomy. AI helps by generating draft questions from raw content, such as course modules, transcripts, or SME notes.“Instead of staring at a blank page, I use AI to get five or six rough questions, then fine-tune them based on the learning goals and audience,” says Anna Poli. “These drafts often need refinement, but they provide a starting point that speeds up the process greatly.”Where to Draw the Line: What AI Can’t (and Shouldn’t) DoWhile AI can support many aspects of course development, there are still areas where AI should not be trusted to work solo, even if it seems tempting. To make your teamwork more meaningful, don’t dump these (still very human!) tasks on your AI friend:Define learning objectives without stakeholder input or performance context.Generate culturally sensitive examples or scenarios without review.Replace SME conversations, especially in high-risk or regulated fields.Design ethical decision-making scenarios without nuanced judgment.Catch subtle tone issues in language that could alienate learners.Using AI as a collaborator, rather than a competitor, will definitely give you an advantage. While some teams are still cautious about adopting AI, those who use it thoughtfully are already gaining a strategic edge—and more time for big-picture thinking.

Smarter Course Design With AI – 5 Proven Use Cases 

LMSs can help organizations make the shift to personalized learning. 

Beyond One-Size-Fits-All: How to Create Personalized Learning With an LMS

I am originally from the United Kingdom, and have been living in Japan for 15 years. Even after all this time in Japan, I still find myself coming across unfamiliar territory and having interactions that challenge my views and assumptions. Working in multicultural contexts and teams are an excellent opportunity for development. Exposure to diverse people and experiences can uncover that you might be making incorrect assumptions or missing out alternative perspectives due to overreliance on your own cultural background.Common mistakeA common mistake in multicultural training or development is making generalizations and assuming that national cultural norms are the same as the organizational norms. I’ve worked with various companies in Japan, both domestic and international, and in every case, the company culture has been different. More important, the internal culture has challenged my preconceptions on “western” or “eastern” working practices.  In fact, over time I find it increasingly difficult to make general statements about organizations in Japan, the United States, or the United Kingdom. Indeed, one of the first Japanese organizations I worked for seemed to fit what I had read about in books on Japanese culture. Everyone was very polite, individuals rarely shared their honest opinions in a formal context, and the relationships were very hierarchical.  It was an organization with a long history and an industry in which change was notoriously slow. However, later on I had the opportunity to work in a Japanese organization in which communication was quite direct. The communication was so direct, in fact, that individuals could come across as quite rude at times. In addition, tasks were carried out by individuals with little reference to their official title or history within the organization. This was a “younger” organization, with a more entrepreneurial, individualist management style. Check mutual expectationsWhen delivering training or development projects for an organization, especially in a different international cultural context, it is always best to check that you understand your counterparts’ expectations. This includes not just the expectations of your role, but also their understanding of the purpose of different tasks and activities. For example, in some Japanese organizations, formal meetings are primarily spaces for sharing information and decisions are often made outside of the formal meeting. However, in other organizations, the meeting is the place for decisions to be made and information sharing is seen to take place prior to the meeting. It is always best to check mutual expectations and the perceived purpose of different channels and contexts for communication when joining a new organization or team—and even more so when working in new and unfamiliar international contexts. Foster multiple methods of inquiry I had the opportunity to talk to a successful managing director in a western subsidiary of a Japanese-owned company recently. Her advice on working with colleagues from different cultures, such as Japan, was to ask the same question in several different ways to check that you have really grasped the core issues.  In high context cultures, such as Japan, sometimes an individual’s first reaction is to answer questions in line with what they think you want to hear, rather than what they really think. In this respect, the ability to inquire about the same point but using a wide variety of questions is a useful skill to develop when working in international contexts. Find a trusted informal adviser or mentor When working in new and unfamiliar cultural contexts, it is very worthwhile trying to find individuals who you can provide you with another perspective or “interpretation” of specific behaviors that you come across in the new working environment.  This doesn’t have to be someone in the same organization, but it should be someone who can help you view the behavior through a different lens and understand what unconscious assumptions you may be making based on your own cultural background. If you know that you are going to be working on an international assignment for more than a few weeks, it is worth taking time to find out about possible networking opportunities, either within your own industry (such as international ASTD networking groups) or on cross-industry topics, so that you increase your chances of coming across someone who could be a potential informal adviser. These tips are just starting points. What additional advice would you give people on working in new or unfamiliar cultural environments?

Anna Poli

About