Is AI-powered search the new corporate learning powerhouse?
In this podcast, analyst Josh Bersin says employees' intuitive use of AI search tools to find answers and learn on the fly is forcing corporate L&D programs to evolve yet again.
The internet has done more than any other technology to transform corporate learning from a paper-based, in-person process to one managed and delivered electronically, in myriad sizes and formats, on demand and from nearly any device or location.
The late 2022 arrival of generative AI jump-started a more sudden leap in this evolution, as learning and development (L&D) teams and HR departments now had a tireless helper that could crank out in minutes educational content that used to take days or weeks.
Now, another big change has come to workplace learning, thanks to AI's infiltration of popular search apps like Google.
This AI-powered search is, in fact, transforming corporate learning, according to Josh Bersin, an HR technology analyst. He says employees increasingly use AI search engines to get answers to their questions and learn gradually over time, in ways that are more organic than are possible with even the bite-sized microlearning content that has been the leading edge of L&D technology in recent years.
In this episode of Enterprise Apps Unpacked, Bersin provides evidence in support of the trend, shares what he's learned from his own experience offering AI-based learning, and explains how AI-driven search requires organizations to change longstanding training practices and legacy L&D technology, including learning management systems.
AI's evolution drives the corporate learning trend
Josh Bersin
As founder and CEO of The Josh Bersin Company, Bersin analyzes all the major categories of HR software but has additional expertise in L&D. Early in his career, he helped develop e-learning platforms, and in 2019 he founded The Josh Bersin Academy, which provides professional development for HR practitioners. Two years ago, he introduced an AI assistant called Galileo that draws on the years of HR content produced by Bersin's consulting practice.
"The history of corporate training is the pedagogy of the classroom, where a teacher or an instructor or an expert teaches somebody, chapter by chapter, a set of materials that might have to do with a job or a topic or skill or technology, and then the employee goes through this series of steps," Bersin said. "The problem, of course, is it wastes a lot of their time. It's not personalized. You can't ask questions online very well, if at all, unless you're in a real classroom, and it's expensive to build and maintain."
He estimated that the popular generative AI chatbot, ChatGPT, led to 100 times more content being consumed in a year than in the previous two decades of e-learning because it was so easy to use. Loading content into AI platforms that can generate instructional formats automatically also makes the learning more personalized, he said.
AI-powered search takes it to the next step. "Sometimes we want a little bit of extra material. We want to dig in, but a lot of times we're just trying to familiarize ourselves with the topics that have to do with the problem or a challenge or a new case or situation," he said. "This dynamic learning technology that allows people to learn in that fashion is going to distribute the learning out to where it's needed in the lines of business -- in the departments and the divisions, the plants and the stores where people are actually doing their jobs."
Other topics discussed in the podcast include the following:
- How AI-powered search could lessen workers' fears about being replaced by AI.
- What HR and L&D managers need to do differently.
- How AI advancements by search providers will affect the move toward AI-powered corporate learning.
David Essex is an industry editor who covers enterprise applications, emerging technology and market trends, and creates in-depth content for several TechTarget websites.
