Generative AI for Authentic Point-of-Need Learning – Learnovate Report
This research stream examines Authentic Learning Experiences and explores how AI can be used to deliver them in new and innovative ways.
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Generative AI for Authentic Point-of-Need Learning
As GenAI continues to be developed it is worth considering what the real benefits are to the learner and user experience. In this short article, we will explore the use of point-of-need learning and ask how this learning experience could be made more authentic, reliable and valuable to the learner?
Project Overview
When we consider Generative AI (GenAI) for point-of-need learning, what is it that this technology can bring to the learning experience? Is it facilitating a better, more engaging experience, or is it simply a way to access information faster, such as using Google or YouTube in a more efficient way?
Currently conversational AI (common form of Gen AI) can be quite transactional – very much an ask-and-respond experience with little personalisation or personality. While some chatbots exist with friendly avatars, it is difficult to move away from the fact that most interactions are superficial, and can be missing an authentic, personal element.
The use of GenAI in educational contexts has been a topic of much interest, speculation, and apprehension, particularly with regard to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, but the use of GenAI in a corporate learning environment is perhaps less of a topic of discussion currently. In a corporate context, GenAI has the potential to provide users with quicker access to relevant learning material. However, does this constitute improved learning or merely more efficient access to information? Many off-the-shelf AI tools retrieve information from the internet and in the case of corporate learning this is a concern, as most organisations have their own learning materials in their own learning management systems, with many companies required to comply with regulatory requirements. In this case, retrieving an answer to a learning query from external sources could lead to users retrieving incorrect, inaccurate, conflicting or non-compliant information.