The lolly bag is a much-loved tradition in Australia. Usually (but not exclusively) a feature of children’s birthday parties, it’s a take-home gift for each guest containing chocolates, candies and … Continue reading AI lolly bag
The lolly bag is a much-loved tradition in Australia.
Usually (but not exclusively) a feature of children’s birthday parties, it’s a take-home gift for each guest containing chocolates, candies and other sweets.
My fond memories of receiving a lolly bag as a kid sprang to mind as I facilitated a think tank with peers at this year’s L&D Symposium.
The subject of discussion was Delivering AI upskilling across the entire workforce, and we delved into questions such as: What skills does the workforce need to use AI effectively? How we can uplift these skills at scale? And how we can help the business mitigate the risks of using AI?
At the end of a fruitful session, I promised each participant a digital lolly bag containing links to further resources. So here goes…
Reports
From the get-go, two reports in particular underscore the importance of getting AI upskilling right.
MIT’s The GenAI Divide reports that 95% of organisations are getting zero return on their investment in generative AI. This finding is mirrored by Atlassian in The AI Collaboration Index whereby 96% of leaders say that AI has not delivered meaningful ROI.
Even more sobering is the latter’s finding that nearly 70% of workplaces offer AI training, but it’s largely ineffective!
It’s not all doom and gloom, though. Both reports offer insights and advice that you can use to improve your AI upskilling strategy.
Literacy Frameworks
Various organisations have published AI literacy frameworks, including OECD, US Department of Labor, UNESCO and Anthropic.
You might find these frameworks useful not only for sanity checking the coverage of your AI upskilling program, but also for guidance on how to assess competence.
Courses
The likes of Coursera, Skillsoft and Udemy offer quality content that you can incorporate into a blended learning pathway – especially if you have an in-house subscription.
The big players in the AI race also run their own academies, such as OpenAI Academy, Anthropic Academy, Microsoft Learn and Google Skills – which are helpful if your company’s sanctioned tool is (or is based on) ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot or Gemini.
By the way, Anthropic runs a course called Teaching AI Fluency.
Article
One of the insidious risks of using AI is that it doesn’t reduce work – it intensifies it. In this HBR article Ranganathan & Ye explain why that tends to happen, and in response they recommend a trio of practices to prevent overwork and burnout.
Shameless Plugs
You’re still reading? You must be keen, so here are a few extra chewies from yours truly…
- A 5-stage model for implementing a skills-based learning strategy which eminently applies to AI upskilling.
- Sandwich makers which outlines a simple 3-step model to promote critical thinking when using AI.
- The missing link in AI upskilling which explains why the skills our people need to use AI effectively include skills that aren’t about using it.
- Human Centered Design: A Crash Course which develops one such skill.
Do you have any other lollies to add?
