This blog post isn’t just another list of the 25 million AI tools on the market today (99% are irrelevant and will fade away, FYI).
Instead, I want this to be more nuanced. I’ve refined this list to the 5 best tool for L&D teams. I’ve tested each extensively to ensure they’re worth your time.
You don’t, and certainly shouldn’t, use every tool on this list at the same time. Your job is to use the ones that work for your context.
In other words, don’t use ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity at the same time. Pick the one that works best for you through experimentation.
Sorry to those who were expecting one of those crazy visuals with millions of tools!
You don’t need more tools. You need the right tools, my friend.
Let’s unpack the best AI tools for L&D teams in 2025.
ChatGPT by OpenAI
You most likely have used or at least heard of this one.
Some might argue it is the best AI tool for L&D teams, but I won’t go that far.
It’s the poster child for the new wave of generative AI tools. I can’t deny its current top billing as the best-performing multi-model conversational AI tool.
It’s incredibly effective.
If Willy Wonka operated a delightful factory of AI tools rather than delicious chocolates, ChatGPT would be his most beloved creation.
What it can do:
- Generate new text
- Create an array of images
- Read different file formats including: XLX, PDF, TXT, PNG, JPEG, and more
- Create custom AI assistants that connect into other applications.
- Use voice and vision to talk with you and explore your surroundings
What you can use it for:
- A thought partner to support your ideas and general work
- Your research intern
- A data analyst that distills complex bloated reports into meaningful insights
- Cute cat images, if that’s your thing
- Live problem-solving with vision and voice mode to see the world around you, and share your screen.
My favourite use cases:
- Thought Partner
- LXD Assistant
- Research Assistant
- Data Analyst
- Skills coach
Perplexity
Perplexity is like the strategic digital L&D partner I always wanted.
Its support in data analytics and decision-making processes is unmatched. It simplifies and provides valuable insights without the need to write incredibly nuanced prompts.
What it can do:
- Conduct conversational search, generating answers from web sources with citations
- Summarise search results rather than listing them, prioritising newer sources to ensure up-to-date information
- Support file uploads for analysis, including text documents and CSV formats
- Refine searches to sources such as YouTube, Reddit, offline, and online
- Provide real-time data by surfing the web for the latest answers
What you can use it for:
- Problem solving with focused search features
- Browsing the internet for crafted answers rather than links (think Google 2.0)
- Uncovering unique insights and thinking critically with its follow-up deep dive questions
My favourite use cases:
- Research Assistant
- Intelligent data analyst
- Fact checker
NotebookLM by Google
This one is under the radar for most.
It’s a tool specifically built for research and analysis by the smart folk at Google. The USP of this tool is its ability to handle huge stores of data. It allows you to treat it like a notebook.
That means you can store little sticky notes of thoughts, discoveries and insights to revisit.
Key features include:
- Upload and analyse up to 300 different data sources in one chat
- Create FAQ’s, study guides and briefing docs from conversations
- Comparative data analysis – ask for critiques, breakdowns and related ideas on your research
- Generate podcast-style conversations based on your findings, voiced by AI-created hosts (weird, I know)
- Generate video overviews of your research
This is not your typical LLM.
It won’t create images for you, or any of the classic creative tasks the tools above are used for. That’s actually what makes it great. It does 1 – 2 tasks exceptionally well.
Learn how to use this tool with my in-depth tutorial playlist on YouTube ↓
ElevenLabs
The first of two non-specific conversational AI tools.
I wish I had access to ElevenLabs when I was leading a global team. It would have significantly improved the speed, quality, and cost of language translation.
I appreciate this tool because it supports access to content for all. Language is a big barrier when it comes to content.
What it can do:
- Convert text-based resources into audio
- Offer multilingual support for videos and audio
- Voiceovers for videos
- Dub your existing audio and video with your voice into any language
What you can use it for:
- Audio and video language translation at speed with quality
- High-quality voiceovers
- Dub your own voice into 29 languages
My favourite use cases:
- Dubbing my voice into any language – amazing yet scary at the same time
- Voiceovers for YouTube videos. I like to spice up my content.
Descript
A video editing suite so simple a 5-year-old can master it.
Of course, it comes with AI-powered features to simplify the creation and editing of visual content. It’s easy to use, saves time, and makes your videos look incredibly professional.
What more can you ask for?
What it can do:
- Edit videos with user-friendly, AI-assisted tools
- Auto–generate subtitles and transcripts for accessibility
- Repurpose existing video content into new formats
- Create podcasts and voiceovers with built-in recording features
- Clone your voice for speedy but slightly eerie creations
What you can use it for:
- Create slick videos with little experience
- Podcasts and audiograms
- Text-to-voice creations, if you’re interested in voice cloning
My favourite use cases:
- Producing all my video content – it’s my only video editing tool
- Adding subtitles in seconds to any video
- Adding studio sound quality to any video
- Editing my transcripts. This might sound simple, but it’s hard and time-consuming. Descript simplifies this.
- Generating b-roll, avatars and images with in-built AI models
- Using agent mode to help me design production elements I can’t do on my own
Bonus: HeyGen
Ok, I did put 5 and a bit in the title.
For a while, I had been resistant to AI avatar technology as I’d found its applications incredibly gimmicky, and most often used to elevate already bad L&D practices.
But the fact is that’s not the tech’s fault, it’s down to the users.
AI avatar tech has been getting better, and right now, HeyGen is the platform that most impresses me and where I get a lot of value when I do choose to utilise AI avatars.
It’s packed full of features, and they’re generally first to market with the latest innovations from the space. Check out the video below, where I create an interactive AI avatar that can listen and respond to users ↓
Build your AI toolkit
There you have it, the best AI Tools for L&D Teams in 2025.
The world of AI is an open playground.
So, experiment, explore, and do cool stuff.
If you feel like I missed one or you want to share your best AI tools for L&D teams in 2025 with me. Share this with me directly.
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