Staying Ahead of the AI Curve in L&D

Josh Cavalier is one of the leading voices in the L&D industry about AI. In a recent LinkedIn Live session, he made this comment about being an orchestrator of AI. That made a lot of sense to me. This orchestration idea — it’s not about being a tech guru; it’s about conducting a symphony of AI tools. I spoke recently at the Chicago Elearning Exchange about Adaptive Learning. I stressed that as IDs, we aim not to become software engineers. I don’t know how well that went over, but I will use the orchestra analogy going forward.

Now, we all know AI is moving at breakneck speed. My YouTube feed is full of videos touting the next “Midjourney Killer,” thumbnails showing a guy with his mouth wide open, and bold text claiming, “This Changes Everything.”

If you try to keep up, it gets confusing on what to keep up with. How can one become an expert in generative AI when it changes so much. This is why the orchestrator analogy is so good. You only need to know the tools that allow you to direct and utilize AI in the design process.

What Do I Mean By Working Knowledge?

Understanding AI Capabilities: First things first, get a handle on what AI can actually do for learning and development. You don’t need to know the nitty-gritty technical details, just the potential and limitations. It’s like knowing what each instrument in your orchestra is capable of.

Strategic Integration: This is where you decide where AI can enhance the learning experience. It’s about blending AI-generated content with your human-crafted materials. Think of it as arranging your musical score — you’re deciding where each instrument (or, in this case, AI tool) can shine.

Tool Selection and Coordination: Choose the right AI tools for your learning objectives. This is like picking the right instruments for your symphony. Then, coordinate between different technologies to create a cohesive learning environment.

Prompt Engineering: This is your conductor’s baton. Learn how to craft effective prompts for AI tools. It’s about guiding the AI to produce the educational content you need.

In order to gain work knowledge, we have to address the pace of advancements. Like I said, there is something new or an update to a current application every week. I wrote a blog post last year titled, “How I Evaluate Software to Avoid the Shiny Object Syndrom.”. The post outline my evaluation process, but I think it would be helpful to see how I categorize my toolbox to connect where I place things once they’ve been evaluated.

My AI Toolbox. It’s not fancy, but it keeps me from losing my mind in this AI tsunami. Here’s the gist:

Ecosystem: My ride-or-die tools. They’re part of my daily grind.

Sandbox: The new kids on the block. They’re promising but still need to prove themselves.

Watch This Space: Interesting, but not quite ready for prime time.

On the Horizon: I’ve heard the buzz, but I’m not biting yet.

Bedrocks: Foundational tools (Adobe, Camtasia, etc.) They’re not going anywhere.

This system keeps me focused. I’m not chasing every shiny object that pops up on YouTube. I’ve got clear rules for what makes it into each category.

Take AI video, for instance. At first, it was just noise. But I set some benchmarks: videos longer than 4 seconds, no weird image morphing, and, for the love of all that’s holy, not everything in slow-mo. When Runway Gen3 hit those marks, it earned a spot in my sandbox.

This approach isn’t just about keeping my sanity — it’s about managing costs and scalability, too. Some of these AI tools can burn through your budget, and some are a fiscal black hole, and you have no clue of the real cost until the invoice arrives. I’m talking to you, Azure.

As instructional designers, we have a superpower: our domain expertise. We have models, frameworks, and evidence-based practices. AI is just another tool in our toolkit. The focus remains on designing engaging learning experiences that drive performance.

It Will Get Easier

You might be old enough to remember when Computer Based Training was programmed using BASIC or Pascal. Articulate and Macromedia authoring tools were REAL game changers. The same is going to be true for generative AI. Currently, we are using API calls, LangChain, React, PHP files, and a host of other things to incorporate AI into our learning experiences. Soon, AI agents, LLMs that can handle voice, vision, and text, will streamline the process. Adobe is already integrating AI into its software. You can expect Articulate, Canva, and Captivate to do the same.

We have no idea when that will happen so the best approach is to put in the time now to understand how these pieces fit together, you’ll be the one calling the shots when the tech levels up.

So, next time you feel that AI anxiety creeping in, take a deep breath. You’ve got this. You’re the orchestrator. And AI? It’s just another instrument in the toolbox.