Will AI replace training? That answer is easy: “Yes”; or rather “In many cases, yes.” In particular, AI acts like a personal tutor, not a classroom teacher. Skilled personal tutors are a fabulous resource for effective learning. It will be difficult for other training approaches to compete with that.
AI as a Personal Tutor
Let’s consider two examples of how you might use AI as a personal tutor: learning Excel and learning to give a presentation.
If you want to learn Excel, you could ask an AI, “What are the five most important functions to use in Excel? Please give examples of how to use them.” Or if you are just starting, you might prefer “Please recommend some free videos on getting started with Excel.” Or if you have a particular problem you might ask “How do I parse a string where each field is separated by a comma or a semi-colon?”
If you want to learn to give a presentation you might ask “What are some tips for giving a presentation on employee engagement to a team of finance managers?” or “Here is my draft outline for a presentation on office safety, can you give me suggestions on how to improve? What principles should I learn so I don’t make the same mistakes?”
In essence, an AI acting as a personal tutor addresses your specific issues, one at a time, as they arise. It helps you dig in deeper when you get stuck, it is infinitely patient, and it is non-judgmental. Overall, it’s a great training tool.
Why traditional training still has a role
If AI is so good, why do we still have traditional training?
Traditional training remains relevant for several key reasons:
· Time: Perhaps the biggest barrier to training is lack of time. On any given day, people know they should learn new skills but already have a full calendar. Traditional training provides a mechanism for setting aside uninterrupted time for learning in a conducive environment.
· Team building: Sometimes one of the objectives of a training session is team building. Even if the training is nominally on a straightforward topic such as “budgeting”, one of the goals of the leader may be to have the team spend time together and get to know each other.
· Team learning: There is a lot to be learned by having conversations with your peers. Traditional training can provide a venue for that.
· Self-directed learning requires initiative: Deciding what questions to ask an AI can be challenging. Sometimes professionals would rather have someone create a curriculum and take them through it.
Key Takeaways
We shouldn’t dunk on AI learning because it can’t do everything traditional learning does. A Mercedes sedan can’t do everything a Ford pickup can, but that doesn’t make the Mercedes a lousy car. We should embrace AI learning and strongly encourage people to use it. We may need to support people so they get comfortable using this new approach.
We shouldn’t dunk on traditional learning just because AI training can be great. Traditional learning offers certain advantages. However, let’s be sure we know why we are using traditional learning or AI learning and leverage the strengths of both.