Learning Leaders Digest #114
Here's what's interesting this week.
Welcome back, Learning Leaders.
The conversation that drew the strongest response from trainers in my LinkedIn network last week started with a question we have all seen:
Will AI replace instructional designers?
What interested me was not the question itself. It was where the comments went.
People were not defending our profession by claiming AI cannot write objectives, generate scenarios, create quizzes, or draft facilitator guides. Most of us already know it can do those things, and the quality will continue to improve.
The discussion focused on the work behind those deliverables.
Why is performance breaking down? What question does the client need to answer before we move forward? Is training even the right solution? Does this activity prepare people to perform, or does it merely keep them occupied? Is the AI-generated answer genuinely useful, or does it only look acceptable at first glance?
Those decisions require judgment.
That distinction is becoming more important. If our value rests on how quickly we produce slides, courses, and participant guides, AI will put pressure on that value. If our value comes from helping people identify the right problem and design a path from learning to improved performance, AI can make us more useful by taking some of the production work off our plates.
That is also why this week’s longform article focuses on theory of change. Before we begin building a course, we should be able to explain what people need to do differently, what capabilities they need, what support must exist afterward, and how those changes are expected to improve performance.
The important question is not only whether AI can build training.
It is whether we have done enough thinking to know what training should be built.
What part of instructional design do you think AI is least likely to replace? Share your answer in the comments, or join the conversation on LinkedIn.
What I’m Reading
This week, I’m reading Adam Grant’s Think Again. If you want to become better at conversations, questioning assumptions, and helping people reconsider their thinking, it is worth picking up. You can find the book here.
In Case You Missed It
AI Isn’t Replacing Instructional Designers
Every few weeks I see another headline asking whether AI is going to replace instructional designers.
Activity Tuesday: Fact or Fiction?
Every day at work, people make decisions based on what they think they know.
Throwback Thursday: What Does Art Have to Do with a Performance Gap?
This was originally publish in Bob Pike’s Creative Training Techniques Newsletter in July 1999.
Episode 40 - The BOX Experience with Jazmin Webster
Links
What makes employees love their jobs and never want to leave?
Differentiating Between “Hard” and “Soft” Skills—Or Whatever Label You Choose
No Budget? No Problem: Building Talent via Internal Networks
Reading in the Flow: What L&D Pros Are Picking Up This Summer
The five-minute coach: How AI gives frontline managers time to coach and develop their teams
Why Employee Onboarding Fails After The Training Room—And What Actually Fixes It
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Build a Learning Culture That Actually Changes Performance
Organizations don’t improve because they offer more training. They improve when learning leads to better decisions, stronger leadership, and measurable performance on the job.
If you’re looking to build a learning culture that develops people instead of simply delivering courses, I help organizations design training, facilitation, and leadership development that produces lasting results.
Learn how we can work together at DuaneLester.com.