E-learning and LMS blog articles

Looking to boost the knowledge and skillsets of your employees in 2024? Let us introduce you to your new secret weapon – AI. With the recent boom of innovative AI tools that can address a myriad of use cases, we’re seeing businesses of all sizes harness their power for L&D purposes. In this blog, we’ll explore how you can use AI tools to address one of the top three L&D priorities according to the 2023 learning at work survey report - closing skills and knowledge gaps.

Personalised learning with machine learning algorithms

Personalised learning experiences have long been hailed as the ideal method for successfully bridging knowledge gaps. Indeed, 77% of L&D professionals recognise that personalised learning is vital to employee engagement. But creating a unique, tailor-made learning experience for each employee in a large company is a mammoth task for L&D teams. Consequently, many businesses simply don’t have the time or resources to move away from the ineffective, one-size-fits-all approach to training.

Enter AI tools, the secret weapon for L&D teams looking to take a personalised approach to closing knowledge gaps.

How would you go about creating a personalised learning experience for your employees? First, you’d get to know them, finding out their strengths and weaknesses, and assessing their existing skills and knowledge. With this information, you can begin to outline a learning pathway that addresses their training requirements. Well, that’s exactly what today’s AI tools can do (but in a fraction of the time).

By analysing employee data such as job role, past performance, previous learning, and existing competencies, AI-powered adaptive learning platforms such as Realizeit create personalised learning pathways that cater to the unique requirements of each learner. Essentially, with the right AI tools all the legwork is done for you.

Using AI to generate engaging training materials

Another essential L&D process that can often put a strain on the time and resources of your organisation is the generation of engaging and effective training materials. Catering to the diverse training requirements of each department and job role calls for a multitude of courses and training materials, so leveraging AI tools to create custom content can save a great deal of your time and money.

AI-powered writing assistants such as ChatGPT can cut down processing and development time to a fraction of what it would be when generated by a human. Using prompts to generate content, users can mould training materials at a granular level.

It’s estimated that 20% of the workforce will be significantly under-skilled in their jobs by 2030. To thrive in the changing landscape brought forward by new technologies, employers and employees need to look out for the top skills and competencies that will allow them to remain competitive. But how can employers rapidly close emerging knowledge and skills gaps in an ever-changing landscape? With generative AI tools, you can quickly create and deploy new training materials that address the latest L&D requirements, ensuring your organisation never gets left behind.

AI chatbots for streamlined learning

Over the past few years, chatbots have become a powerful customer service tool for businesses looking to instantly provide their customers with answers to frequently asked questions. 24/7 access to a wealth of information, delivered in a conversational and straight-to-the-point format, is a dream for busy people in need of a quick answer. What if we told you that you could use this same technology for your busy employees?

Using natural language processing technology, AI chatbots can be used by businesses to answer employee questions and help close knowledge gaps. Rather than sifting through pages of training documents or seeking out answers in a lengthy training course – employees can simply type their queries into a chatbot.

AI chatbots help reduce the strain on L&D teams, managers, and HR teams, removing the need for employees to contact them directly for solutions to simple questions. And while this solution doesn’t replace ‘big picture’ development practices, chatbots offer ‘quick wins’ by filling small knowledge gaps that don’t require lengthy L&D training materials. However, if you’re looking for a way to simultaneously fuel continuous learning and support long-term L&D, chatbots can be configured to recommend relevant training materials and courses, ensuring employees are aware of further opportunities for growth and development.

AI-driven content recommendations

Encouraging your employees to engage in continuous learning practices is a guaranteed way to bridge knowledge gaps and prevent them from growing in the future. So how else can AI support this? Content recommendation engines have become a popular tool for encouraging learners to further deepen their knowledge and expand their skill sets. In fact, many of our clients are using recommendation engines in our Totara Engage LXP to create a constant flow of new learning opportunities for their learners.

AI-driven content recommendation engines analyse the user history and suggest content that addresses specific skills and knowledge gaps that they are closing, along with focusing on their preferred content types. Think of a personal training guide that not only understands your unique needs and preferences but champions your aspirations for continuous learning by recommending the perfect content that will help you achieve your development goals. That’s pretty much what these AI engines deliver.

What else can AI do for you?

We’ve produced loads of AI-focused content to help you leverage the latest tools and technologies. Download a free recording of our AI-focused webinars; ‘3 practical AI tools for bespoke e-learning design’ here or ‘Harnessing the power of ChatGPT for e-learning’ here.