“First coined in 1956 by John McCarthy, artificial intelligence (AI) was described as machines that can perform tasks that are characteristic of human intelligence” (Roby, 2018). In today’s society; however, AI has seeped into numerous components of our lives, including retail, sharing apps such as Uber, government departments, and most important in the context of this discussion, corporate learning environments. Most corporations appear to think of AI more than an elaborate, nice-to-have feature, but rather a business imperative. For example, the Boston Consulting Group and MIT Sloan Management Review conducted a study in 2017 which indicated that:
- 83% of executives believe that AI is a strategic priority for their businesses
- 84% believe that AI will enable them to obtain a competitive advantage
With a global spend of $362.2 billion dollars on company training activities in 2017 (US Bureau of Economic Analysis), it is no surprise that corporate learning is a market that is emerging at a rapid rate. Given that AI is also moving in an upward growth trend, these two components make for an interesting pairing given they are highly integrated and aligned within the learning technology boom. AI allows for corporate learning to advance in ways that were never deemed possible before; therefore, as learning professionals, it is an incredibly valuable market to explore.
References:
Fulcrum Labs (2017). AI for Learning in 2018. Retrieved on September 11, 2018 from: https://www.the-fulcrum.com/blog/ai-learning-2018/
Ransbotham, S. et al (2017). Reshaping business with artificial intelligence, Closing the gap between ambition and action. MIT Sloan Management Review. Retrieved on September 11, 2018 from: https://sloanreview.mit.edu/projects/reshaping-business-with-artificial-intelligence/
Roby, Katy (2018). AI in corporate learning and development: It’s here. Retrieved on September 11, 2018 from: https://trainingindustry.com/articles/learning-technologies/ai-in-corporate-learning-and-development-its-here/
