AI and learning 

A few thoughts on the future of learning and leadership development (and podcasts): Similar to my post awhile back on dating, and building on a panel discussion I participated in the other day, I think we’re going to go through a pretty radical change to how we do learning over the next few years. In short, I believe that learning will split between (i) in person synchronous sessions that are as much about community and togetherness as they are about knowledge transfer, and (ii) asynchronous individualized dynamic video or audio interactions with an AI chatbot.

This will also herald the end of information-rich podcasts (as opposed to amusing or dramatic ones, which will survive a bit longer). If I want to learn about quantum mechanics, I’d much rather have a conversation with a bot that will adapt to what I already know and tailor content to my focus areas than have to slog through sessions aimed at an average audience.

So, what does this mean for learning content creators? For case (i), focus on building communities of people learning together with very interactive exercises and engagement - ideally in person. Not only will these survive, but I think that high quality in person interactions will boom in the next while . For case (ii), if you’re lucky, you have amassed enough interesting proprietary content that you can build a tailored AI bot with your name and face that people will pay to engage with. If you haven’t, I would either focus on the UX aspect of it, or find something else to do.

This will take a few years, so folks that have a strong market position have some time where they can continue making money doing it the old way, but I do believe that change is coming, and likely faster than we expect.