AI Does Not Equal Training

Written By: Bob Mosher, Chief Learning Evangelist and Co-Founder, APPLY Synergies

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” – Henry Ford

Why do we keep doing this? Whenever a new technology appears in L&D, we always saddle up the same old horse and hope it will run faster. Now, AI is going to revolutionize how and when people access information that improves their performance. Notice that nothing in that sentence is about “training” or “learning”. It’s about 2-click/10-second access to the right amount and type of information that helps them perform better. PERIOD. That MIGHT be some type of training, but not likely. This is why I’m frustrated that almost every webinar, workshop, tweet, LinkedIn post—you name it!—that I’ve seen from L&D folks and vendors has referenced AI as helping those we serve be “trained” better, quicker, etc. One of my favorite quotes from a client (a frontline manager) is, “I don’t really care what they know or what they have been trained on. I only care about what they can do and how well they can do it.” That quote has lived with me for over 30 years. It was part of my first experience shifting from a training-first mindset to one that puts performance first, and it changed my professional trajectory.

You’ve heard me preach about the power and impact of Workflow Learning/Performance Support/5 Moments of Need for over 15 years. Much of the pushback I’ve experienced has come from the work it would take to change how L&D is seen, our deliverables, the learning technologies we use to deliver solutions (e.g., ILT, Virtual ILT, eLearning, LMS, LXP) and, most importantly, the methodology we use, namely ADDIE in many cases. I understand all that. I really do. I’ve been on this journey as an instructional designer for over 40 years and I understand all that goes into this change, both emotionally and professionally. But it’s still a change we must make as an industry if we’re going to remain relevant and known for significantly impacting performance and business outcomes. Training—first and on its own—will never deliver on that. I would stake my 40+ years of work in this industry on that statement.

Enter AI—the tipping point, in my opinion. There have been other disrupters that I thought would be enough: the Internet, the global recession of 2008, and Covid, to name just a few. But none of those tripped the wire for us as an industry. We collectively went right back to training deliverables. Same horse with no insight or motivation to buy a car.

Here’s what I am certain about and what many agree with. AI will change the landscape, with or without us. For instance, we are already seeing that it can and will continue to learn how to create decent eLearning content in a fraction of the time it takes the average developer to do the same. It will answer the “training” ask fairly well. So, how do we as learning professionals adapt to a different place and role? Workflow Learning! Although AI generates a lot of amazing information, we need to provide prompting, rules, and a guiding framework. THAT is our new calling. Our analysis is still needed around areas like content management and workflow context. AI will accelerate the heavy lifting of the content generation, which traditionally slows down Workflow Learning design due to heavy reliance on Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). With powerful meta data work and the design of the correct content types, AI will facilitate Workflow Learning design in ways that former technologies alone could not. Vendors in the Digital Coach arena will add AI features to their design, maintenance, and user experience functionality. This will usher in a whole new way for L&D to move into Workflow Learning while removing many of the operational and design barriers that have made it difficult for us to widely adopt and implement this powerful discipline.

These are exciting times, friends, but only if we stop seeing ourselves as “training” experts. Let’s put that perception out to pasture. It’s time to adopt a more effective, efficient, and impactful mode of transportation! (Have I beaten that metaphor to death yet?) When the industrial revolution came along, many roles changed, some jobs became obsolete, and productivity skyrocketed. At the same time, many new jobs, roles, and opportunities were created. AI is the next revolution, and moving into that brave new world will create the same disruptive scenario as moving into the industrial age. L&D will be part of that. Let’s spend 2024 helping each other along this journey! I’m really looking forward to the dialogue. In the coming weeks, I will share ways for us to engage, discuss, ideate, challenge, thrive, and lead through this transition. Who’s with me?!

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