Welcome to a special edition of The Pelorus, focusing on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in learning and development and leadership development.

AI predictions from Ian Brookes, Founder & Director of TSF Tech, an Openside partner.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is set to transform many aspects of our society. AI is the application of mathematics and software code to teach computers how to understand, synthesise, and generate knowledge. The application of AI in the future development of Vienna, Openside’s learning measurement tool, will significantly enhance its value to individuals and firms.

Our future vision for Vienna, enhanced by AI, is that every attendee will have an ‘AI tutor’ that is patient, compassionate, knowledgeable, and helpful. The AI tutor will be by each professional’s side at every step of their professional learning and development, helping them maximise their potential with the machine version of nurturing.

The emergence of large language models (LLM) like Bard from Google AI, trained on a massive dataset of text and code, will take provision and delivery of learning and education a huge step forward. Bard, like ChatGPT, can generate text, translate languages, write different kinds of creative content, and answer questions in an informative way. These AI tools are still under development, but have the potential to revolutionise and democratise professional development from a content creation and delivery perspective.

As an example of applied AI, here are some of the ways that we will incorporate Bard, ChatGPT and other AI tools in the next development of Vienna.

• Open access to more inclusive education: Tools can be accessed by anyone with an internet connection, regardless of their location, enabling access to high-quality educational resources on demand.
• Personalised learning: Personalised learning experiences and content for each student by understanding the student’s strengths and weaknesses, providing tailored feedback and suggestions to learn more effectively, at their own pace and in their own way, breaking down the barriers of traditional education around ‘one size fits all’ – a truly bespoke solution.
• Active learning: Improving engagement, promoting more active learning, asking questions, providing feedback, encouraging exploration, helping us all to learn by doing. Making learning more interactive and engaging, retaining information better, staying motivated and interested in learning.
• Access to information: Removing the boundaries of traditional learning and development classroom walls, providing access to a vast library of information, pushing resources to help on any topic, supporting students in understanding and interpreting information, learning more independently, efficiently and creatively, developing their imaginations.
• Affordability and flexibility: Making education more relevant and affordable. The cost of learning and development is a major barrier for many firms. This low-cost educational tool is versatile and can be used in a variety of settings – traditional classrooms, online courses and self-learning programs – to meet the needs of different learners.

So that’s the big picture. It almost sounds too good to be true, so let’s consider some specific examples using AI:

• An advisor struggling with ‘critical conversations’ can get personalised development help, explaining concepts, providing practical problems tailored to their specific needs, level and pace, whilst crafting a personalised learning journey.
• A team can work on a collaborative project, brainstorming ideas, sharing information, collaborating on a final product, learning from each other and developing social skills, whilst removing the barriers of geography and time and unifying culture.
• A consultant interested in learning about a particular topic can research in their own time, feeding their curiosity and curating foundational knowledge, stimulating creativity and providing insight into problem-solving.

Leadership Development Report: Ready for Anything – Harvard Business Review

“Many decisions which were traditionally made by leaders based on research or data analytics are being replaced by much faster automated decision-making. The problem is that a lot of people don’t know how to use it, and so they waste either a lot of time trying to understand how it works or trying to prove it wrong if it doesn’t agree with their judgment… I think upskilling that talent is becoming a huge challenge for the CEO.”

Partner business development at a global technology company

The four key challenges for leadership development today are:

1. Contending with continuous disruption beyond the C-Suite
2. Building the tech-savviness of all leaders
3. Humanising leadership in the digital age
4. Leading the hybrid work strategy

To address key challenges, leaders must incorporate learning into the flow of life, lead learning from the top, develop adaptable authenticity and leverage leadership training to reduce the new social capital and culture gaps because of remote and hybrid working.

We hope you find these articles thought-provoking and that, where necessary, they have implications on the way you work within your firm. Please share with any of your clients or colleagues whom you think may benefit – there is a link to subscribe to ‘The Pelorus’ below.

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