Last year, I received some feedback that helped me realize I needed a bit of a perspective shift when it came to my opinions about artificial intelligence (AI).
To help change my own mind, I chose the path of curiosity: I enrolled in a virtual conference about AI in learning and development (L&D).
The event was hosted by the Association for Talent Development and a wide range of L&D thought leaders. Here are my takeaways from the experience.
#1: We need to develop a new literacy: AI literacy.
With the rapid advancement of AI technology and its quick adoption among consumers and businesses alike, it’s critical to purposely build one’s AI literacy in order to stay relevant. We need to understand the technology well enough to use it ethically and effectively. Looking for a way to gauge your own AI literacy? Check out How AI-Savvy Are You? A Personal Literacy Assessment Tool.
#2: Human oversight and critical thinking are always necessary.
This is fundamental to the ethical and effective use of generative AI. Without critical human oversight, AI’s biases, vulnerabilities, and errors go unchecked. This can result in a variety of issues: inaccuracies, discriminatory practices, wasted resource, data breaches, and beyond.
#3: L&D professionals must model the ethical use of AI.
As L&D professionals, we have to acknowledge that our business partners will expect us to leverage AI in our daily work. It can be a powerful tool for data analysis, simulations, content creation, and more. Just as we advocate for solving business problems with *the right solutions,* we should also advocate for strategic and ethical use of AI technology to meet learning needs. In using AI, we should strive to generate output that’s accurate, unbiased, accessible, and secure. Further, we need to appropriately disclose when we do use it.
There’s much more to explore behind these points!
To stay current on the topic of AI in L&D, I recommend following the ATD Intensive 2024 speakers: Dr. Markus Bernhardt, Josh Cavalier, Matt Gjertsen, Garima Gupta, Margie Meacham, Sarah Mercier, Debbie Richards, Myra Roldan, Doug Stephen, Megan Torrance, and Micah White.
Please get in touch to chat about any of my takeaways from the ATD Intensive!
