Jamie Good is one of the people who have pioneered using chatbots in L&D. In this interview we explore how chat can be used in L&D. He talks about a great example of a conference chatbot that focused on helping conference attendees to collect their takeaway from sessions and making those takeaways more actionable. For Jamie, one of the most powerful applications of chatbots in L&D is in performance supports, which is something that Paul Healy from Learning Pool also talks about in a later podcast. This interview is also packed full of great advice from Jamie about getting started with chatbots in L&D. To go along with the podcast series we have released an eBook with all transcripts of the interviews. To go along with the podcast series on How artificial intelligence is changing the way L&D is working, we have released an eBook with all transcripts of the interviews. The eBook also gives a brief explanation of what AI is and an overview of how it is being used in L&D. Download the eBook Useful links Find out more about Jamie Find out more about Woebot

This interview with Vincent Han is the start of a section of this series that focuses on chatbots and L&D. When I started to record this podcast series I didn’t expect so many of the interviews would be focused on chatbots. Chatbots are the AI technology that is easiest for L&D application and has a high impact. Vincent is one of the leading thinkers in this area of chatbots and L&D. He is the founder of the Mobile Coach platform, which is an excellent way to get started building chatbots. While this interview with Vincent is at the start of this section in the series, it wasn’t recorded in this sequence. What happened is, as I was doing some of the other interviews in this section, with Jamie Good and Emma Webber, I discovered that they were both using Mobile Coach to build their own chatbots. As a result, I thought it would be great to talk with Vincent for this series. Vincent doesn’t come from a learning background; his background is technology, so his focus on learning as behavioural change is refreshing. In this interview, Vincent gives a great overview of how chatbots can be used to personalise learning over time and how the process of a conversation can be emotional, even if it’s with a bot. Often I think about a chatbot as being on a website. Mobile Coach can be used for building web-based chatbots, but it can also be used with other other chat platforms and SMS. SMS messages are simple, personal and can a be powerful tool for behavioural change. To go along with the podcast series we have released an eBook with all transcripts of the interviews. To go along with the podcast series on How artificial intelligence is changing the way L&D is working, we have released an eBook with all transcripts of the interviews. The eBook also gives a brief explanation of what AI is and an overview of how it is being used in L&D. Download the eBook Useful links Find out more about Vincent Find out more about the Mobile Coach platform Watch a video about Mobile Coach

The higher education sector has been using machine learning for some time, mostly to predict if students are at risk of dropping out of a program. In this series, I wanted to include an interview with someone who had been involved in this work, to see what L&D could learn from it. Mike Sharkey is one of the leaders in this area. His most recent past role was as Vice President of Analytics at Blackboard. It was great to be reminded by Mike in this interview that learning is a complex area and there are so many factors at play. Because of this it’s not a simple area for the application of machine learning. During the interview, Mike and I also briefly talk about privacy issues with analytics. As workplaces start to adopt more data-driven approaches to learning, there is a lot that we can learn about the work that has already been done in higher education, including how privacy issues can be approached. To go along with the podcast series we have released an eBook with all transcripts of the interviews. To go along with the podcast series on How artificial intelligence is changing the way L&D is working, we have released an eBook with all transcripts of the interviews. The eBook also gives a brief explanation of what AI is and an overview of how it is being used in L&D. Download the eBook Useful links Find out more about Mike Sharkey Find out more about Data and graphs This example of a university course that is using the AI we discussed

Ben Betts from HT2 Labs is back on the podcast in this interview. Ben is passionate about using social learning to build high-impact learning experiences. HT2 Labs are also the people behind Learning Locker, which is an open source learning record store for xAPI data. At the Learning While Working conference, Ben talked about the work that HT2 Labs have been doing on how they are measuring social learning. The recording of that conference session goes into more depth on that work than this podcast does, so if you’re interested in what Ben is doing I encourage you to watch that recording. The work HT2 Labs is doing is built around a series of machine learning methods that are called ‘natural language processing’, which I think of as a series of methods that look for patterns in language. It’s maybe the most complex area of machine learning. The podcast starts by exploring data, AI, and automation in L&D, then moves into using natural language processing and measuring social learning data. To go along with the podcast series we have released an eBook with all transcripts of the interviews. To go along with the podcast series on How artificial intelligence is changing the way L&D is working, we have released an eBook with all transcripts of the interviews. The eBook also gives a brief explanation of what AI is and an overview of how it is being used in L&D. Download the eBook Useful links Find out more about Ben Betts Find out more about Learning Locker and Curatr Learning Experience Platform

For this interview I spoke with Marc Zao-Sanders, CEO of Filtered, a platform that makes learning recommendations. In our daily life, we see recommendation engines in action all around us, such as Spotify and Netflix. Recommendation engines and learning are a natural fit. The process of seeing patterns in what an organisation or an individual needs, and then finding the right learning experience, is a core function of L&D. This is something a recommendation engine can do. Marc uses a bit of machine learning jargon at one stage: collaborative filtering. A basic description of a collaborative filter is that it’s a series of techniques that looks at a user’s past actions and interests, and how they relate to those of other users, and makes recommendations based on user behaviour interrelationships. Filtered’s platform is actually a combination of a chat and recommendation engine. Magpie is a version of this platform that has been designed specifically for L&D people. Magpie is a great way to experience what chatbots and recommendation engines can do. To go along with the podcast series we have released an eBook with all transcripts of the interviews. To go along with the podcast series on How artificial intelligence is changing the way L&D is working, we have released an eBook with all transcripts of the interviews. The eBook also gives a brief explanation of what AI is and an overview of how it is being used in L&D. Download the eBook Useful links Find out more about Marc Find out more about Filtered Start using Magpie

This interview with Christopher Brinton from Zoomi is a great way to start this series on artificial intelligence and learning and development. The work that Zoomi is doing now is leading the application of AI in L&D. Zoomi works with your existing platforms and learning data and can apply over 250 different AI and machine learning techniques to do things such as analyse learning content and make predictions and recommendations. This interview covers a lot of the key ways that AI technologies can be used to bring deep, powerful insights to your learning data and how this can then be used to drive personalisation on a whole new level. To go along with the podcast series we have released an eBook with all transcripts of the interviews. To go along with the podcast series on How artificial intelligence is changing the way L&D is working, we have released an eBook with all transcripts of the interviews. The eBook also gives a brief explanation of what AI is and an overview of how it is being used in L&D. Download the eBook Useful links Find out more about Christopher Find out more about Zoomi

Richard Wyles, the CEO of Totara Learn, and Robin talk about how open source learning platforms means learning platforms can be more flexible and customised to meet the needs of an evolving organisation.

Con Sotidis from Kineo and Robin talk about the state of L&D in Australia.

Terrena Hooper talks about her journey at Sodexo where L&D has gone from being compliance focused to being a value creator for the organisation.

Squiz and Robin talk about how Virtual Reality can be used to simulate experiences in the classroom that accelerate employees’ learning and create more business impact.