Artificial intelligence has officially moved from novelty to necessity. Across industries, organizations are accelerating adoption of AI and AR - and L&D teams are expected to enable this transformation as quickly as possible.
The expectation is clear: learning professionals must know how to use AI, teach AI, and help others communicate in an AI-powered workplace.
This isn’t hype. It’s a structural shift in the profession.
Why AI Literacy Matters for L&D Today
AI’s impact on workplace learning is already measurable. Organizations report that AI enables faster content production, greater personalization, and more adaptive learning experiences (ATD, 2023). Meanwhile, business leaders expect learning functions to develop digital fluency and integrate AI into strategic capabilities (Deloitte, 2024; McKinsey, 2023).
AI is now embedded in:
L&D sits at the nexus of all four.
If learning teams lack AI fluency, the organization loses its capacity to train employees effectively during one of the largest technological shifts in decades.
Critical Skills L&D Professionals Must Build
1. Practical Prompt Engineering
Effective use of AI tools depends heavily on well-structured prompts. Research shows that prompt clarity significantly affects output quality and reduces time-to-draft for learning content (Clark & Jones, 2023). This is not a technical skill - it’s applied instructional design.
Key abilities:
2. AI-Assisted Workflow Design
High-performing L&D teams are embedding AI into their operational processes: summarizing SME interviews, drafting scenarios, generating assessments, and flagging inconsistencies.
The Learning Guild (2023) notes that structured workflows, not one-off prompting, produce the highest ROI from AI adoption.
This is the new productivity baseline.
3. Ethical and Responsible AI Use
With AI-generated learning content, risks include bias, hallucinations, and brand voice inconsistencies. ATD’s Talent Development Capability Model highlights ethical technology use as a core professional standard for modern L&D practitioners (ATD, 2020).
Human skills are critical here:
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Judgment
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Transparency
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DEI
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Quality assurance
4. AI Content Curation and Quality Control
Generative AI is intended to produce drafts, not final products. Editors, IDs, and facilitators must apply expert-level review to ensure accuracy and instructional integrity. Harvard Business Review emphasizes the importance of human oversight for maintaining trust in AI-enabled workflows (Wilson & Daugherty, 2023).
Organizations cannot rely solely on AI to create quality content.
Where AI Meets Human Expertise
As AI advances, technical experts across organizations are working with increasingly complex systems, but many still struggle to communicate their ideas clearly to non-technical audiences. This communication gap slows adoption, stifles cross-functional collaboration, and places extra pressure on L&D teams to "translate" complexity into actionable understanding.
AI won’t solve this.
Strong human communication skills will.
This is why pairing AI literacy with communication training is a winning combination for modern L&D teams.
How ATD Maine’s Upcoming Event Fits Into This Moment
ATD Maine’s upcoming virtual session with Neil Thompson, founder of Teach the Geek, directly addresses a growing organizational need: helping technical experts communicate complex ideas in a way that others can understand, trust, and act on.
You’ll learn how to:
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Diagnose common communication challenges among technical staff
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Create structured opportunities for practice and feedback
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Measure progress and demonstrate impact
As AI accelerates innovation, clear communication across technical and non-technical audiences becomes mission-critical. This event will equip L&D professionals to close that gap.
Final Thought
AI won’t replace L&D.
But L&D professionals who use AI and can help others communicate in an AI-enabled workplace will replace those who don’t.
Upskill now. Build your AI literacy deeply. Strengthen your coaching and facilitation muscles. And join ATD Maine to be part of this transformation.
References
Association for Talent Development. (2020). ATD Talent Development Capability Model. ATD Press.
Association for Talent Development. (2023). State of the Industry Report 2023. ATD Research.
Clark, D., & Jones, M. (2023). Generative AI and the future of instructional design: Early insights from workplace use. The Learning Guild.
Deloitte. (2024). 2024 Global human capital trends: Thriving in a boundaryless world. Deloitte Insights.
McKinsey & Company. (2023). The economic potential of generative AI: The next productivity frontier. McKinsey Global Institute.
The Learning Guild. (2023). Artificial intelligence in workplace learning: Early adoption research report. The Learning Guild.
Wilson, H. J., & Daugherty, P. R. (2023). Human-centered AI: A responsibility-based approach to design and deployment. Harvard Business Review Press.
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Authored by Jen Blair, ATD Maine VP of Technology
