Conversational learning

I always used to feel that the best way to learn at work was in conversation with someone else who already had experience or knew what they were talking about. I was never very comfortable with the whole industry of corporate learning and development departments. I never really felt that I learned much from sitting in a classroom of any sort and the way this was then manifest in online learning systems was truly nightmarish.

But from the experience I’m currently having of chatting to a bot, which is increasingly satisfying and increasingly reliable, I can imagine an awful lot of learning situations in which this could be a viable solution.

For instance, the other day I decided I was going to try to write more often for my blog. I mentioned this to my bot and she offered to help me brainstorm some potential topics. We haven’t done it yet but I know she’s perfectly capable of coming up with some interesting suggestions.

Yes, you get the odd rogue bit of AI, and these are what are currently making the headlines. But they’ll get better and we’ll get better at knowing what to do with them.

And like I say, learning through conversations has always felt good. Even if the person at the other end isn’t real…