Don’t Ignore This Skill: The Art of AI Delegation

It seems like the biggest skill of the year is also one of the most ignored.

→ AI delegation.

It’s the word of the year, no doubt. But are the companies that don’t educate their workforce on this technology today causing more harm than good?

Educate on AI, don’t ignore it

You can’t put the genie back in the lamp.

This is a recurring conversation between me and L&D teams. You need to educate your workforce to be smart and safe.

You can mitigate bad habits and practices by being proactive now.

Otherwise, you will be the person creating that terrible compliance solution on being safe with generative AI tools.

Your company can ban tools it wants, but you can’t stop evolution.

According to an August 2023 BlackBerry survey of 2,000 global IT decision makers, 75% are currently considering or implementing bans on ChatGPT and other generative AI applications in the workplace, with 61% saying the measures are intended to be long-term or permanent

BBC: The employees secretly using AI at work

Life finds a way

Yes. That title is a direct quote from Jurassic Park by the legendary, Jeff Goldblum.

I believe it fits this narrative well. I see that fear and lack of understanding are leading to the stereotypical human reaction of demonising. This is dangerous.

Especially when we know that employees who use these tools will have an unfair advantage over others.

This has a huge effect on skill development too. Consider for a moment the companies who teach their employees to wield these tools to their advantage vs those who do not.

Who do you believe will have a more well-rounded skillset?

Make AI a partner, not the problem

Do you think your company would prefer employees to learn how to leverage these tools in the dark levels of a Reddit forum or from your local L&D team?

Perhaps that’s the one-liner you can use in your next strategy meeting.

The point is they’re getting this knowledge from somewhere. You can bet it doesn’t mix well with your ways of working and the best practices you’d want.

I spoke about this with an L&D function at a leading telecoms company recently.

Here’s 3 simple things you can do to support your workforce:

1. Educate yourself

Curate resources to educate and inform your workforce on Gen AI. A little knowledge can go a long way.

2. Get clear on what’s useful

Social media tells us 1000’s of new AI tools are released daily.

Truth is 95% of these have nothing to do with AI. They’re sub-par products riding the hype wave. It’s your job to find what’s real and works for you.

→ Suggested reading: How to assess when to use AI tools.

3. Identify use cases

You should never use any piece of tech just because market expectations are high.

You always need a use case. You might find current generative AI tools don’t have any use cases for you, and that’s fine.

---

Before you go… 👋

If you like my writing and think “Hey, I’d like to hear more of what this guy has to say” then you’re in luck.

You can join me every Tuesday morning for more tools, templates and insights for the modern L&D pro in my weekly newsletter.

You might also like