Training Industry Magazine - July/August 2019 - 40

The following technological bricks are
forming the foundation for the AI-powered
learning companion's success:
* Personal assistants (such as Amazon's
Alexa or Google Home) with voice
activated interactions and web curation.
* Automated recruitment and job
opportunity
curation
(through
robotic AI assistants like "Mya"
and "Tengai") featuring profile fit
analysis, robot interviewers and
behavior analysis.
* Adaptive learning platforms (like Knewton
and Area9) supporting personalized
learner experience (LX) management.
* Automated personality
assessment.

and

skills

* Intelligent
learning
objects
that
coach you on various skills, such as
public speaking.
* Intelligent
curation
tools
like
"Filtered," which curates content
you're actually interested in.
* Open
badges
providers
like
Mozilla combined with blockchain
technology, which
offers a secure model for the
collection and sharing of skills indicators
including academic records, badges
and certificates, citations and letters
of recommendation.

FOCUS ON
UPSKILLING
AND RESKILLING
THE PEOPLE
WHO AREN'T
TECH-SAVVY
ENOUGH TO USE
A LEARNING
COMPANION.
| 40

DOES THIS MEAN THAT L&D WILL
BE DISRUPTED?
Learners will likely become more
emancipated in the near future. Modern
learners often follow the mantra,
"I learn what is required to become
who I wish to be." This is where the
sports agent analogy comes into play:
Sports agents want their players to reach
their full potential, just as AI-powered
assistants want their learners to reach
their own potential.
The film "Love & Mercy" focuses on the
Beach Boys' co-founder and leader Brian
Wilson's struggles with mental illness.
In the movie, his therapist turns into an
overbearing agent showing that, well,
agents can easily become greedy. In
the years to come, we may face a new
kind of singularity: not the one where
robots become self-aware, but the one
when you've given so much personal
data to your personal assistant that it
becomes the master, and you become
the tool.
Regarding corporate learning, one of
the major side effects of technology
is that intermediaries disappear. So,
corporate training will need to refocus
on the following specific objectives to
demonstrate its value:
* Develop industry-specific learning
objects that will feed learning
companions with relevant content for
individual companies.

* Become consultants in corporate
transformation. As individuals will
eventually be handled by their AI skills
assistants, there will still be a challenge
of changing teams, organizations and
company cultures in order to adapt to their
digital ecosystems.
* Grow a sustainable learning culture
by fostering mentoring and providing
opportunities for on-the-job learning.
* Promote the employer branding.
Measure and showcase the fact that in
this company, people develop their skills
and obtain new credentials - which has a
positive impact on recruitment costs and
retention rates.
* Focus on upskilling and reskilling the
people who aren't tech-savvy enough
to use a learning companion.
Ultimately, in order to tackle the
numerous challenges outlined above,
corporate learning leaders may very
well need their own personal skills
AI assistants.

François Debois is the head of innovation
for the Cegos Group, developing digitalbased solutions that generate engagement
and change the way people work. Simon
Vuillaume is the director of international
projects for the Cegos Group, where he works
with corporate L&D managers and other
Cegos team members worldwide. Email
François and Simon.
Training Industry Magazine - July/August 2019

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