How will AI influence the future of L&D?

To say AI is a hot topic would be an understatement. No longer consigned to the margins of Sci-Fi, generative AI is now a reality, with many of us using tools like ChatGPT and Bard regularly. To contextualise AI’s rise, LinkedIn posts about generative AI have skyrocketed by 33x over the past year. Additionally, the Global Generative AI Market will grow 26x larger over the coming decade, reaching an estimated value of $1.3 trillion by 2032. 

Put simply, artificial intelligence has arrived. However, as technology evolves, AI’s influence will grow, forcing many businesses to adapt and evolve. The L&D industry is no exception. It’s no longer a question of whether AI will influence L&D, but how these influences manifest. 

So, what’s next? How will AI influence the future of L&D? To answer these questions, we’ll analyse the state of AI, before examining the benefits of AI for L&D and outlining Go1’s future AI plans.

The state of AI 

After years of speculation featuring flying cars and robot apocalypses, the rise of generative AI was swift. It took ChatGPT just five days to clock one million users. AI is here and here to stay. So, let’s set the scene. 

AI adoption

A recent survey found that 48% of businesses have adopted “at least one AI-backed function or machine learning system.” More specifically, well over half of HR & L&D teams use AI for: 

• Diversity and inclusion efforts 
• Employee records management
• Payroll processing & benefits administration
• Recruitment and hiring
• Performance management
• Onboarding new employees

This is only the beginning, as surveys show almost all HR leaders intend to increase their AI usage within two years to avoid lagging behind competitors. 

In the immediate future, estimates suggest that 47% of LMS tools will be enabled by AI capabilities by the end of 2024. It’s no wonder industry expert Josh Bersin predicts that “AI (and generative AI in particular) is going to radically change the HR Tech landscape.”

To learn more, check out our blog on whether AI is really coming for your job. 

The benefits of AI for learning and development 

Whether you’re using AI to create content, engage employees, or automate tasks, there are many ways to leverage AI for learning and development. 

Forbes summarises potential uses for an AI-powered LMS, stating, “[It] can use learning algorithms to gather data and personalize the learning experience for users. AI can test a learner’s existing knowledge and adapt the learning journey to fit their individual needs. The pace, depth, and breadth of the content the learner consumes can be adjusted to their unique requirements. An AI-powered LMS can harvest data from all the learners using the system and then make the learning experience adaptive.”

Similarly, a survey of L&D professionals who have implemented AI tools found they were saving time and money, improving efficiency, personalising learning experiences faster than ever, and making more data-informed decisions. The benefits of AI adoption are driving business leaders to invest further in tooling, and we believe L&D professionals at all levels should do the same. Here’s why. 

Save time (while increasing quality!) 

AI tools can reduce the average time to produce an L&D training video by 62% — from 12.9 days to just 4.9 days. That’s right, AI can decrease video production time by more than a week! Saving time doesn’t mean compromising on quality, as 57% of teams also saw a positive impact on course completion rates.

If you’re creating a large volume of training videos, imagine how quickly those time savings would add up and what you can achieve with your extra free time. 

Cut down on costs

What’s better than saving time? Saving enough money that budget holders will thank you. Luckily, AI can save your business significantly when deployed correctly. On average, AI reduces hiring costs by 30% and increases revenue per employee by 4%. 

Further, organisations with AI-powered learning can expect to see a 10% increase in employee productivity and a 5% decrease in training costs. 

Improve efficiency, safety, and productivity

Speaking of productivity, artificial intelligence is known for its process-forward efficiency, and the numbers confirm it. Research shows that early adopters of AI technology in L&D have enjoyed an array of benefits, including: 

• 57% increase in efficiency
• 55% increase in safety
• 52% increase in productivity
• 47% complexity reduction

These numbers will likely increase over time as the technology evolves and companies optimise their AI usage.

Engagement & knowledge retention 

AI is a game-changer for employee engagement, with research showing that AI-powered L&D can increase engagement by 20% and knowledge retention by 15%. This increase is significant, as knowledge retention is an ongoing dilemma. Our memories are unreliable, as is our ability to retain knowledge.

The Forgetting Curve (studied since 1885) suggests that learners forget approximately 50% of the information they’re shown within an hour, 70% within 24 hours, and 90% within a week. Therefore, a 15% boost in knowledge retention is massive, leading to better learning outcomes and more knowledgeable employees. After all, if you go through the effort of sourcing and sharing L&D content, you want employees to retain as much information as possible.

AI for content creation 

While these benefits are extensive, some workers still have reservations. After all, 87% of L&D professionals want the L&D content they consume to be created by a subject matter expert, whereas only 12% want it to be created by AI. 

These statistics send a clear message: most people want their training content to be created and presented by a human. Learners want AI to complement and enhance human L&D efforts, not replace them. 

As Training Magazine notes, “respondents are not opposed to L&D practitioners using AI technology to improve their efforts, but they still want humans to create, plan, and direct the activities.” 

Accordingly, AI can be highly beneficial throughout the content creation process — from summarising transcripts to tagging content and even creating images. However, most learners want AI to supplement, not supersede, human learning.

Ultimately, AI has many uses to complement and enhance L&D efforts, taking learning to the next level. 

Go1’s views on AI 

Despite these benefits, cases of technological bias and inaccurate AI datasets are still common. That’s why at Go1, we firmly believe AI is only as good as the data it’s fed. So, what’s feeding our AI ambitions? We utilise data from 156 million yearly course completions, encompassing over 130,000 data points from 250+ content providers, to create personalised learning pathways. 

Go1 owns the world’s largest learning library. So, by leveraging data from our content and learners, we strive to enable best-in-class content-to-learner matching; consistently surfacing meaningful, accurate, and trustworthy results. 

AI is top of mind for Go1, and we look forward to delivering more on this topic very soon. We can’t wait to bring our customers and partners with us on this innovation journey, so stay tuned for what’s coming — maybe as soon as the end of the month!

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