This article was originally based on a Masterclass presented in April 2024. A lot of what is in that Masterclass still applies today, therefore it is still available below this update.
I’ve been closely following what’s happening in the world of AI because creating or redeveloping learning content is core to a lot of the business I do in many different sectors – small business, not for profits, government organisations, vocational colleges, universities and corporates.
Creating training content (especially video based content) has traditionally been a task that is labour intensive, expensive and requires a distinct set of skills. AI is changing this which is great news for organisations who need training content created faster, on a smaller budget.
Having said this, there are A LOT of varying opinions about whether AI is actually making it easier or harder for subject matter experts (SMEs) to create quality learning content, and whether it will replace instructional designers.
So I’ve doubled down on figuring out the answers, and this is what I’ve garnered after being an avid observer and learner in a range of AI related webinars, discussions and training sessions over the past few months.
In a nutshell, here’s the questions this article will answer. Will AI:
- replace humans when it comes to content creation?
- make it easier or harder for SMEs to create quality learning content?
- make outsourcing learning content creation cheaper?
Let’s go into each of those questions a bit deeper.
Will AI replace humans when it comes to learning content creation? ( In other words, will AI take my job?)
In short, no. AI can do an absolutely mind boggling number of things these days but it will never replace the human element entirely.
About a year and a half ago, I presented a masterclass on using AI to create online learning content and I have to say, although the essence of that masterclass hasn’t really changed (video and workbook available below), the technology has changed a lot. The answers I give to the questions in that masterclass (what can AI help you with, what are you asking it to create for you?) are still valid, although the range of actions it can do now for you has expanded exponentially.
For example, inside an authoring tool like Rise 360 (which is what I use to create online courses for my clients) you can now ask it to:
- Change the tone, length or complexity of the language,
- Summarise or paraphrase existing content,
- Expand content from a single paragraph, into a whole lesson of content,
- Develop interactive activities (like drag and drop, or a quiz) from a paragraph of text,
- Chunk or group text into sections that can then become the basis of an activity, and also
- Visually balance lists for readability so they’re all beginning with verbs or nouns, or all similar lengths.
- If you’re using Storyline 360 (a more advanced authoring tool in the Articulate suite) you can even ask it to do an accessibility check and it will find all the errors and suggest fixes.
These are all things that I used to do manually for my clients so to answer the second and third questions, “Will AI make it easier or harder for SMEs to create quality learning content, and will it make outsourcing learning content creation cheaper?”
The answer is a very big YES – which is absolutely fabulous news, especially if your existing training content is very clear in your head, or already exists in script form (like a book, a series of speeches or a training manual).
If however, you’re starting from scratch, you can also use pre-created courses that are aligned with your topic, and then use them as a base to inject all your stories/case studies/experience into, OR you can use them to bulk out your existing courses in areas that you know are lacking so again, can it make our jobs faster and costs lower? YES.
I was literally gobsmacked when I saw the power that an authoring tool has these days – the technology really has come along in leaps and bounds in the past year. 18 months ago it really wasn’t particularly advanced and the tools that I trialled actually made my job slower. These days however, if you’re creating a course from scratch, you can literally prompt it to do the following:
- Create a course outline based on whatever source documents you upload (PDFs, videos, word docs, quizzes etc) – which you can update or tweak if it’s not quite right.
- You can then adjust the tone, target audience, goals and learning objectives, or ask it to have another go based on your prompts (make it more professional, and targeted at XYZ audience etc)
- Based on the course outline, it can then generate what it thinks are the core lessons for that course, with full lesson outlines.
- You can then download and work directly with stakeholders at this point, or
- Ask it to continue fleshing out the lessons based on your prompts (add a section about this topic, refine that topic, make that topic longer, etc).
- You can even ask it to provide references for where it’s taken the content from – so you’ll know exactly how to confirm that the information it has pulled together is relevant, factual and fit for purpose. This is one of the biggest arguments the naysayers have about using AI for learning content creation – that you can’t trust where the information comes from. This solves this problem because you, the SME, gives it exactly the information you’d like it to use – so the course will literally only be as reliable as the information you feed into it. #gamechanger #youdrivethebus
Once you’re happy with the text based lesson outlines, you can then ask it to generate:
- Interactive online lessons, complete with activities that make the user THINK rather than just passively absorb the information,
- Images to represent the core content (yes it can generate an image on text based prompts like – draw me a caucausian character with wavy auburn hair who is writing ‘yes’ on a white board’),
- Audio blocks by choosing a voice (from thousands of choices in terms of gender, tone, style, accent, language, speed, rhythm – automatically attaching the transcript for subtitles if they’re needed),
- (I’ve seen other software that can do this in video format – ie – you put in a transcript, it will generate what looks like a real human teaching the lesson for you – no more need to get your trainers in front of cameras – if that doesn’t impress you I don’t know what will).
- It can also create audio for an image, so it can be described via audio for accessibility.
Again, these are all things I would normally do manually with my clients – so it most definitely makes the content creation process faster and in the end, less expensive if you’re working with someone who knows how to get the most out of the tools. I’m also super happy to see that at the core of these AI tools, is the best practice philosophy I’ve been banging on about for the past 13 years.
As a specialist in adult education and training who has been championing quality education and training for over a decade (as opposed to death by PowerPoint or ‘tick and flick’ learning), my core philosophy revolves around the 3 core stages outlined above:
1. Learning Experience Design
Learning Experience Design has to come first - who is it designed for? How does it work? What tone will it be? What objectives and outcomes are you aiming to deliver?
2. Curriculum Development
Curriculum Development is what links good learning experience design with quality learning resources. If the structure, level of content and practical activities isn’t right, it won’t matter how flashy your learning materials are.
3. Resources Development
Learning Resource Development needs to centre around engaging the learner - not just fire-hosing the learner with knowledge they’ve got no idea what to do with. Interactivity, asking questions and being an active participant in the learning process is key if you want your learners achieving outcomes.
4. Continuous Improvement
This fourth stage is crucial - asking learners before, during and after the learning experience what they need, and how we can improve the entire experience for them. We all know stale content never has the impact fresh, well considered content does! Quality authoring tools have survey and quiz software - you just need to know where, when and how to embed them into your learning products.
This is exactly the framework Rise 360 and other quality authoring tools are using to help SMEs create quality content – and I say quality AI tools because there are still a lot of tools out there that will create absolute garbage for the unsuspecting user. This brings me to these next four points – if you know the answers, skip over to the next section!
All of these functions described above are absolutely game changing for someone like me – it’s literally like having a calculator instead of having to do all the sums ‘long hand’ – but just like a calculator, if you feed garbage in, you’ll get garbage out – and even when you do put quality content in, you still need to be able to interpret what comes out, review, refine and then use it appropriately.
AI now can work alongside an SME to create a quality learning experience, but the SME still needs to
- know how to use the tools effectively (that’s a whole other learning curve I’m in the middle of at the moment!),
- review, edit and update the scripts so they’re factually accurate, and
- inject personal stories, anecdotes and experiences to set it apart from any other course that AI has created.
Photoshop is a TOOL, which anyone can learn how to use – but a talented graphic designer will be able to make magic using that tool, while a regular person might create something that looks like it came from a kindergarten art session. The same goes for AI tools and instructional designers. One of the core arguments for AI being unuseful/not helpful, is that it creates nonsense and is just regurgitating generic information with no depth, that you then need to pick apart and re-develop.
My take on this is that AI can only be as good as the humans who are using it – and the same can be said for using any tool, in any context. Good tradespeople never blame their tools right? They double down and get better at using the right tools, for the right jobs.
Where you might want to work with a skilled and experienced curriculum developer or instructional designer, is for the things that AI can’t do just yet, like
- help you untangle the thoughts in your head, and engineer a learning product that is 1) the perfect blend of your skills and experience, 2) fit for purpose for the learners (online, face to face or blended), and also 3) suited to what you actually want to be delivering as the SME.
- distinguish between subtle nuances to get the wording matching exactly what you intend it to mean especially when it comes to outcome statements, objectives and practical tasks, OR
- point out when there’s a better way of demonstrating, practising, or assessing a skill set.
Having said that, if you know how to prompt AI and continue prompting it until you’re convinced you’ve got it right, then you’ll get most of the way there for sure!
Here are my key takeaways, and good questions to ask yourself if you’re considering handing over the job of learning content creation to an AI tool:
- AI is only as good as the humans guiding it – it can definitely make learning content creation more efficient – if you know how to prompt it effectively, and also know how to review, adjust and refine what comes out of it. Who are the humans driving your content creation?
- AI cannot add the ‘spice’ that will make a course unique to the SME who is creating it – this is what will set your course apart from all the other generic content that exists. How are you making your course content stand out from the crowd?
- You need to decide what role you’re assigning to AI for different jobs: Is it assisting you with your content (making things better, bigger, quicker)? or Is it creating content for you (so you can then review, reject, refine or rectify)? Which jobs are you getting it to do for you and which jobs are you handing over to a professional?
- AI is an opportunity to be harnessed, not a threat, as long as you have the right people working with the right tools.
How will you make your learning content stand out?
The onus on YOU – the SMEs, instructional designers, curriculum developers and content creators, to harness AI to assist in creating extraordinary learning experiences, not create them from scratch without any human input. The future of success in this field is NOT going to be about who has the MOST content, it’s going to be about who has created the BEST learning experiences that are engaging, practical, needs and outcomes based, so your learners are not only out there kicking goals but also touting you as the leader in your field.
Are you up for the challenge? If you are, and you’d like to learn the basics about creating extraordinary learning experiences, I have a book coming out soon that will guide you in that process, called Everyone’s a Teacher – it’s designed for SMEs and L&D professionals who find themselves in teaching and learning positions without having had formal (or useful) teacher training.
2024 Masterclass: Using AI to create online learning content
In April 2024, I had the privilege of presenting this Masterclass for the One Roof Community (what a powerhouse of women in business!): Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to create online learning content.
AI is here to stay – we either learn how to harness it, or we keep doing what we’ve always done – it’s the biggest change to the way we work in the professional world since the dawn of the internet – are you ready for the challenge? The core outcome of this Masterclass is that you will:
Consider how you can use AI to help create your own transformative online learning experiences.
What don't we cover?
We don’t delve into basic AI training or advanced training on AI authoring tools within Learning Management Systems (LMSs). While these are important topics, the focus of the presentation is on exploring the broader implications and applications of AI in learning content creation. (AI wrote this bit – can you tell? It doesn’t really sound like me does it?)
What topics do we cover?
We answer these questions:
- Why create learning resources?
- How is AI like a calculator?
- What are the challenges of using AI?
- What can AI simply not provide?
- What are you bringing to the table that AI cannot?
We answer these questions:
- What can the tools do?
- What’s the difference between an LMS and an authoring tool?
- Will AI replace the need for learning content creators?
- What level of tools do you think you could use to help you create learning content?
And in the workbook there’s a whole list of links to different ‘levels’ of AI apps for creating anything from a logo to a full online course.
We answer these questions:
- What resources are you actually creating?
- What’s the alternative to death by PowerPoint?
- Which elements do you already have? Which elements do you need help creating?
- Topics
- Well Structured Scripts
- Learning Resources (Presentations and Workbooks) with
- Core Concept Questions,
- Outcomes,
- Quizzes and
- Practical Tasks
- Which of the elements do you think AI could help you with?
- Which elements do you think you need to have the most input into?
We ask you to return to the original outcome and:
Consider how you can use AI to help you create transformative online learning content.
Then, watch the Masterclass here
Are you ready to create transformative learning materials that pack the punch you know they’re capable of?
The best way to work out how I can help you progress your learning product project is to have a quick chat. Book in below and I’ll send you a quick questionnaire where you can tell me more about your project.
Just one more thing…
Here’s how AI summarised the workshop (just to demonstrate one last time…)
We focused on harnessing the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to revolutionise the creation of online learning content. The insights shared during this session are invaluable, offering a glimpse into the transformative potential of AI in the educational landscape. I’m excited to share with you the masterclass, delving into how AI can enhance the development of engaging, adaptive, and impactful online learning materials. Join me as we explore the innovative intersection of AI and education, and consider the myriad possibilities for leveraging AI to shape the future of online learning content creation.
Doesn’t sound like me does it?
Hallo! If you’re curious about the ideas explored in this article and how I might be able to help, please book in for a quick (complimentary) chat! Every client is different, which is why I have lots of different ways of helping – whether it’s an upcoming event, free resources on my website or one to one coaching, let’s work out the best fit for you and your unique scenario!
Continue the Learning
If you’d like to explore these ideas further, the resources below may be a helpful next step.
Further Reading
If this topic has sparked your thinking, you may find the following articles helpful. Each explores a different aspect of creating learning experiences that are engaging, practical, and meaningful.
How to turn a script into an interactive, learner centred tutorial or online lesson
This is a fully demonstrated lesson – showcasing three ways to present the same information – an article, a video tutorial and a fully interactive online lesson.
Everyone’s a Teacher
Maria Doyle’s book Everyone’s a Teacher explores the principles behind engaging, effective learning experiences. It introduces a practical methodology for making learning more interactive, memorable, and meaningful — whether you’re working with students, professionals, or teams.