The expansion of AI technologies has been a transformative moment for many people and organizations. 

Rarely does a technology have such a wide-reaching impact and resulting curiosity across society. In my work with education, training, and content leaders, I’ve seen a wide range of perspectives about AI.

For some, AI represents an existential threat. For others, AI is a once-in-a-generation opportunity. 

Setting aside these wide-ranging options for a moment, most people can agree AI is changing the knowledge landscape, and this change has a direct influence on how we live, learn, and work.

AI and Learning

A topic I’ve been thinking a lot about lately is how AI is changing the way we learn, particularly at work.

If I think back on some of the most meaningful learning experiences I’ve had, they were rarely efficient or quick. Learning takes time, detours, and unexpected ideas. And yet, AI’s common value proposition is efficiency. 

Are we trading learning experiences for efficiency?

Are we trading deep-thinking opportunities for using AI as intellectual junk food?

While I’m convinced many common practices and workflows with AI have this risk associated with them, I’ve also seen AI  unlock incredible potential in the way we learn, think, create, and share. But this doesn’t just happen by accident, and there is still a lot we don’t know about AI and its influence on learning and work. 

As we explore new technologies like AI, we must also explore their impact on human abilities, intelligence, knowledge, and learning. As we strive for new efficiencies and automation using AI, we must also embrace new spaces for deep thinking, creativity, and reflection. 

Having the opportunity to facilitate many leaders and teams through exploring this topic has highlighted a need for new ways of exploring and learning about AI. We will struggle to apply traditional information delivery and education methods to learning a fundamentally different type of technology.

We are at a moment of great change, and yet no one knows exactly what that change will bring.