How to Make Generative AI Your L&D Thought Partner
Is generative AI your L&D thought partner?
I've used ChatGPT for this podcast, for LinkedIn posts, for training, and more. And while I don't yet rely on it daily, it's becoming a better partner for me, because I'm getting better at using it.
I love the idea of helping L&D pros like us make generative AI our thought partner, that’s why today’s guest, Valerie Ehrlich, is sharing four ways you can leverage AI to enhance your strategic role in your nonprofit.
Listen to the episode or scroll down to read the blog post ↓
Key Points:
04:13 Changing mindsets around generative AI
08:23 What is generative AI?
10:14 Four ways you can leverage AI to enhance your strategic role in your nonprofit
17:11 The security and ethical considerations of using generative AI
22:19 Experimenting with generative AI
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How to Make Generative AI Your L&D Thought Partner
Below is just a sampling of the questions I asked ChatGPT as I was brainstorming ways to bring collective impact to life in a training for a nonprofit client:
Give me an example of collective impact.
What was the common agenda in that example?
How might the partners measure success toward their goals?
I was able to then take those responses and customize them for my learner's needs.
I actually love using ChatGPT this way.
In this case, I wanted to use an example to illustrate collective impact. I asked ChatGPT for some ideas that I could use to help build out that example.
But there's still a lot of human in the process.
I have to know what I want to get out of ChatGPT so that I can ask the right questions.
I have to be able to interpret and use whatever it is that ChatGPT gives me so that it's relevant for my learners.
I've used ChatGPT for this podcast.
I've used it for LinkedIn posts.
I've used it for training.
And while I don't yet rely on it daily, it's becoming a better partner for me, because I'm getting better at using it.
So when Valerie Ehrlich and I first talked about bringing an AI specific podcast episode to you, I loved the idea of helping L&D pros like us make generative AI our thought partner.
In this blog post, we’re covering the following:
The Collaborative Potential of Generative AI for Learning and Development Pros
Four Ways to Leverage AI to Enhance Your Role in Training and Development
Dr. Valerie Ehrlich is a consultant, coach, and catalyst for transformative change in the nonprofit sector. As the founder and CEO of Mission Bloom, she specializes in strategic learning, facilitation, consultation, and leadership coaching, and is committed to driving impactful change through collaborative and reflective practices.
1) The Collaborative Potential of Generative AI for Learning and Development Pros
Valerie explains that when she first heard of ChatGPT and generative AI she was initially pretty skeptical and used it only for the most typical use cases like making a paragraph more concise or coming up with names for a project.
It was only after learning about the collaborative potential of AI, that Valerie had a mindset shift.
What do we mean by collaborative potential?
Generative AI can become a thought partner you can engage. It can give you feedback and ideas. It can help you synthesize and simplify information. And so much more.
“With that kind of mindset shift, I experimented with using it to give me critical feedback on a blog I had written. [...] I used it to help me write performance goals that were based on departmental priorities, and I used it to help me understand legal terms of service.” - Valerie Ehrlich
Through this process, Valerie explains that she was able to see how AI was supporting her own learning and understanding.
“It's clearly powerful, but it's up to us as humans to determine how we're going to wield it.” - Valerie Ehrlich
2) What is Generative AI?
Valerie explains that while AI is not new, generative AI is a bit different than your standard AI.
“It's built on a matrix of billions of pieces of data that are from human generated text and language, but it uses that to generate a response based on a query or prompt that you put in. So unlike a machine, like a calculator, its responses are not predictable and might not even be accurate.” - Valerie Ehrlich
Because it is built on language, Valerie explains that generative AI is good at mimicking human language.
3) Four Ways to Leverage AI to Enhance Your Role in Training and Development
Valerie shares four ways L&D pros can use generative AI as a thought partner.
1. Brainstorming
Valerie explains that you can use brainstorming for simple things like upcoming meeting agendas or icebreaker ideas.
“But a really fun way to use it is to ask it for unconventional ideas and tell it specifically, think outside the box. Think about this from 10 different perspectives, and tell me about those perspectives. And you can ask it to think about it for different audiences and for different stakeholders.” - Valerie Ehrlich
Alternatively, Valerie explains that you can give generative AI your ideas and ask it what you’re missing.
“One of my favorite ways of using it with brainstorming is around bringing in different frameworks.” - Valerie Ehrlich
While you may have a favorite framework you use to approach things, others may have a different framework they like. Valerie suggests using generative AI to help generate ideas that align with both frameworks or show how the ideas you have with one framework might relate to another one.
2. Adapting Existing Learning Materials
Valerie explains that generative AI is good at adapting existing material. Here are a few prompts she suggests using:
I'd like to tailor this more specifically to this audience that I have coming up. How can I reshape the case studies or examples that I’m using?
How can I make it resonate more with this particular audience?
How do I need to shape this piece of content for an executive team delivery versus a big delivery that might be asynchronous or online?
“You can really have it help you experiment with modality.” - Valerie Ehrlich
3. Revising Learning Content Based on Evaluations
Generative AI can help you revise your content and delivery based on the evaluations at the end of the program.
“I gave it my whole script for a delivery with the slides and the end of program evaluation. And I asked it, based on the evaluation, how should I improve this delivery for the next run? And it gave me very specific feedback.” - Valerie Ehrlich
Valerie explains that you can ask the generative AI to justify the recommendations as well.
“You can ask it to prioritize out and give reasoning for its recommendations, and that makes it even more powerful.” - Valerie Ehrlich
4. Anticipating and Practicing with Feedback
Another way to leverage generative AI that Valerie recommends is around anticipating and practicing with feedback and role-playing.
“Before you go into a delivery or a conversation, tell it a little bit about the situation and ask it to either coach you through it or think about what questions your stakeholders might raise.” - Valerie Ehrlich
4) The Security Considerations of Using Generative AI
Valerie recommends reading through the terms of service so you know exactly what is happening with the information you are putting into the generative AI model.
“You can actually copy and paste the terms of service and ask it to explain to you what happens with your data.” - Valerie Ehrlich
There are also ways to turn off the memory for certain models.
“You’re basically turning off the transmission of your data. It means you don't get that threaded context, but it does allow you to engage with it in a way that's more protected.” - Valerie Ehrlich
Valerie explains that one of the key ways that the generative AI models are starting to differentiate is in how they're handling data and as consumers, we're going to have more choices coming up in terms of how we want our data protected.
“A cautious mindset is always the place to start, and it will continue to hopefully improve.” - Valerie Ehrlich
5) The Ethical Considerations of Using Generative AI
Valerie shares that the same ethical considerations that we always think about when we're facilitating, evaluating, and conducting research are exactly what we should be considering when using generative AI.
“How are we protecting the data? De-identifying it? What's our purpose with it? But also where is bias within the models themselves and how they've been created?” - Valerie Ehrlich
Valerie has also used generative AI to check for bias in her own interpretation.
In addition to considerations around data, Valerie explains that you also need to have some considerations around output.
“I'm not ever using anything wholly generated by AI. I'm always going back, editing. I'm often changing a lot because it's easier for me to react to something on the page than to try to generate it first. And so it ends up being my own thing. But obviously, if people are just copying and pasting and using that as a deliverable or something like that, that would not be okay.” - Valerie Ehrlich
Valerie emphasizes that transparency is key.
6) Making Generative AI Your L&D Thought Partner
Valerie explains that experimentation is important, specifically experimentation with a curious mindset.
“So often, the first question that we put in is not actually going to give a great answer. We have to learn how to ask questions.” - Valerie Ehrlich
Valerie shares that her first prompts were very simple compared to her prompts now and they returned output that was not as good as the output she now gets.
“The models themselves have improved, but my willingness to stick with it and ask a few more times, rather than just say that wasn't so great, is really important.” - Valerie Ehrlich
Valerie explains that L&D pros are the people who can and should be driving what intentional, effective, and really powerful adoption of AI can look like for nonprofits and foundations.
“The role that we play in organizations, our background and understanding in change management and supporting adult learners in learning new things is exactly the skill set that's needed because adopting AI isn't tech in the usual sense. It's really different, and it's mindset shifts, and that's what we're really good at in our field. And so I think we should all be thinking about it for our own work, but also as a moment for our role to shine.” - Valerie Ehrlich
To hear the full conversation I had with Valerie Ehrlich on the Learning for Good Podcast, scroll all the way up and tune into episode 98.
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