Josh Bersin recently joined the Uplimit community to discuss the implications of AI for learning and development. Check out the recording here!
Josh is a global research analyst, founder of the Josh Bersin Academy, and a leading expert on human resources, leadership, technology, and the intersection between work and life. He is also an adviser to Uplimit and an invaluable thought partner from the start of our company's journey.
Since the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022, Josh and I have connected regularly to talk about how generative AI is reshaping learning and development. He brings new ideas to every conversation, and this one was no exception. Here are a few of my top takeaways.
AI will enable efficient peer-to-peer teaching and learning
In the pre-internet days of corporate L&D, employees would physically travel to a central location and complete a training program together. This meant employees also had a chance to learn from each other, and the ideas exchanged in these settings often proved more valuable than the formal training content.
AI-powered platforms will supercharge this type of peer-to-peer knowledge exchange. AI tools can efficiently screen, catalog, and distribute learner-generated content, like notes and short videos, giving employees instant access to peer advice that’s relevant to challenges they’re facing. Companies Josh works with are already using this approach to help servers memorize restaurant menus, train Employee Assistance Program staff on handling tricky employee cases, and more.
Highly-personalized learning experiences will finally be possible
Personalization has always been a “holy grail” in education. We know learners are more successful when content is customized to their skill level, background, and interests, but individual customization has historically been extremely resource-intensive. With AI, though, we can adapt content to meet learners where they are in real time. One powerful example is an AI-powered simulation taking a learner through a scenario—such as a sales call, vendor negotiation, or platform outage—that precisely mirrors a challenge they’re likely to face in their day-to-day work.
Leadership training will focus more on behavior change
As Josh put it, “the thing that correlates to high-performing leadership is not skills, but behaviors. Skills don’t help you much unless you use them in the right way.” Behavior change is notoriously difficult, especially in the context of a subjective, high-stakes task like leadership, but AI can make it much easier. Again, AI-powered simulations can give learners the opportunity to practice handling an almost infinite range of leadership scenarios. Simulations can be adjusted to account for the learner’s specific role, level of experience, and—critically—a company’s leadership philosophy and priorities, and learners can receive objective feedback from the AI system in real time.
Learning will become more learner-driven
Across all the courses we’ve run on Uplimit, I’ve noticed a pattern. If given the choice, almost every learner will jump straight into a hands-on project, work on it until they hit a roadblock, and then circle back to readings and lectures for help. But most learning programs still put passive content first. This is because it’s hard to guide learners through a hands-on experience without at least introducing basic concepts at the outset, and effective guidance is incredibly difficult to scale.
AI is changing this. In an AI-powered learning experience, a learner can dive into a project and learn as they go, with personalized support and nudges from an AI assistant. AI can direct learners to the specific resources they need, give feedback, answer questions, and even prompt the learner to ask more or deeper questions. It’s a paradigm shift that will make learning infinitely more engaging, and that could render traditional lecture-style instruction all but obsolete.
These are just a few of the ways we’re thinking about integrating AI into L&D at Uplimit. If you’d like to learn more about how our suite of AI-powered learning products can help your organization enhance learner outcomes through personalized learning journeys, get in touch with us here!