AI for Learning in 2018

AI is increasingly changing the way companies do business. According to a recent study from Boston Consulting Group and MIT Sloan Management Review:
• 83% of executives believe AI is a strategic priority for their businesses today and
• 84% believe that AI will enable them to obtain or sustain a competitive advantage.
And with as many as 70% of enterprises expecting to implement AI over the next 12 months, it’s important to understand where is AI headed in the coming year. Forbes.com recently published its 5 Artificial Intelligence Predictions for 2018. These predictions offer a macro view of how AI will continue to grow in 2018 across all businesses. But since we’re an AI-driven learning company, we’d like to explore some of these predictions as they apply to L&D:

Insights as a Service Will Become Progressively Important to Interpret and Apply Learning Data

New learning technologies promise a wealth of data about learner progress, performance and outcomes. But what good is all this data if you can’t interpret it? As more learner data is available, companies will need to consider how they process, trend and analyze the information. If your company doesn’t have an AI data strategy in place, don’t worry. Forrester predicts up to 80% of firms will rely on “insights-as-a-Service” in at least some capacity in 2018.

In fact, for some advanced learning technologies, “insights as a service” are already part of the package. For example, our current machine-learning algorithms can predict things like, which learners won’t finish the course and who are at risk of not being able to apply the knowledge they’ve learned – and we present these insights (and others) within a user-friendly dashboard. It’s a standard part of our offering and one reason that partners tell us they love working with us.

Virtual Tutors will Offer Human Like Help for Learners

“Humans simply can’t keep up with the speed at which technology—and customer demands—are moving. That’s why more and more businesses are moving toward harnessing the power of conversational AI chatbots and other virtual assistants to manage the day-to-day flow of work.” – Forbes

Believe it or not, but this is also true for learning. As L&D increasingly moves from ILT to digital delivery, technologies that mimic the teaching process of a one-on-one tutor or instructor are able to provide human-like help at scale. These technologies are built to monitor learner performance and offer helpful hints and feedback at appropriate times just like a human instructor would. For example, when a learner is struggling, when motivation is lagging, etc. In our Platform, we call this type of technology a virtual tutor.  But whereas a human tutor relies on a set small set of learners to benchmark of performance, our tool is informed by the optimal learning pathways of the tens of thousands of learners who have used the software previously. You can learn more about how our software mimics the human instructor interaction here.

Automation will get smarter as more and more learners interact with AI-driven learning tech

In a recent interview, David Blake, CEO and Co-founder of Degreed noted that:

“AI requires training and data to be able to learn its task.”

This is true for all AI-driven technologies from Amazon’s shopping recommendations to adaptive learning. AI technologies are always accumulating data from which they can make better decisions and provide better interactions. For example, for every learner that goes through our system, our virtual tutor gets smarter. The Fulcrum virtual tutor technology analyzes learner interactions across thousands of learners. It evaluates user behavior and patterns in order to adjust learning difficulty and feedback in truly smart ways.

We’re looking forward to seeing how AI evolves in the coming year, and how it makes its mark on the world of L&D. How are you looking to incorporate AI into your learning initiatives for 2018? We’d love to hear from you and strategize on how AI-driven learning can impact your outcomes in the New Year.