Smart Ways to Amplify L&D Experts’ Impact

4 strategies to advance training design, resources, and outcomes with AI

How to maximize L&D efforts and expertise

With AI in the mix, SMEs can create solid course drafts faster than ever, giving HR and L&D teams a head start. That frees training pros to focus on what they do best: building dynamic learning experiences that drive results.

When used strategically, purpose-built AI can empower experienced course creators to push boundaries and achieve their most ambitious design goals.

In this chapter, you’ll discover four ways instructional designers and training specialists can harness AI to amplify their work, optimize resources, and create a greater organizational impact.

AI STRATEGY ONE

Create customized multimedia assets at lower cost

The struggle to source relevant, quality media assets is real—and it costs course creators significant time and money. Here's how AI can help solve these pain points.

Asset	AI capabilities	Benefit
Custom image generation	Generate custom visuals tailored to your specific training scenarios. Choose a preferred style and apply it consistently across the course.	Save time and money on stock photos. Improve course relevance and outcomes. Create more inclusive training that better represents and resonates with diverse learners.
On-demand narration and sound effects	Produce natural-sounding narration and immersive sound effects with a few clicks.	Add depth and engagement to learning experiences—no recording studio required.

Examples generated by AI Assistant

The image and narration below were both generated using AI Assistant. AI Assistant lets you choose your preferred image or narration style. Image style options include cinematic photo, watercolor, vector illustration, and more. You can also filter AI narration voices by gender, age, and accent.

AI STRATEGY TWO

Shift creator focus from admin to interactivity

Simple admin tasks are a waste of experienced course designers' skills and time. Put that L&D expertise to better use by focusing on tasks that require more strategic thinking or advanced e-learning design. Let AI take care of the low-hanging fruit.

What do you think? How would employee engagement and knowledge retention improve if your employee training could incorporate more custom interactions like this retail microlearning example?

Spend less time on this:

Copying and pasting, organizing, or formatting content
Writing simple summaries, quiz questions, and static content
Checking for typos and text errors

And more time on this:

Building dynamic e-learning interactions such as exploratory media, games, real-world simulations, and sophisticated branching scenarios
Blending custom audio, video, 3D models, graphics, and illustrations to develop immersive experiences
Tailoring content and learning pathways to employees’ individual needs and goals

AI STRATEGY THREE

Unlock creativity + improve course quality

Brainstorm ideas

Instructional designers often face the challenge of developing fresh, engaging approaches to present complex material. AI shines here as a brainstorming partner and creative catalyst. Try prompting AI to help you ideate:

Compelling storytelling scenarios that make abstract concepts relatable and memorable
Relevant examples tailored to specific industries or learning goals
Gamification ideas to encourage active participation

Polish content

AI isn’t just for generating ideas—it’s also a tool to fine-tune your messaging. Stuck on wording? Quickly jot down your ideas in plain language, then ask AI for help adopting an engaging voice, landing the right tone, or bridging information gaps. This capability is particularly valuable when translating technical knowledge from SMEs into learner-friendly content.

On the next page, explore some sample prompts to polish writing to perfection.

Transformative writing prompts

AI can adapt your content’s tone to fit different audiences. Here are some sample prompts:

Engaging and conversational

“Rewrite this paragraph in a friendly, conversational tone to appeal to new hires.”

Professional & authoritative

“Adjust this content to sound formal and authoritative for an executive training program.”

Encouraging & Inspirational

“Make this section more motivational to inspire learners tackling a challenging topic.”

AI STRATEGY FOUR

Reach the best results with lightning-fast iteration

AI embedded in your e-learning tools allows for seamless iteration and enables you to test, adapt, and refine in just a few clicks. You can experiment until you find the best design—without wasting time on copying and pasting from external solutions.

1

Rearrange course modules to optimize flow and engagement.

2

Experiment with various formats, like flashcards, clickable process steps, or expandable information rows.

3

Test alternate visual layouts to find the most aesthetic and effective presentation for your content.

4

Quickly localize course content for multilingual or multinational employees.

With Articulate’s AI Assistant, creators can easily click to convert static text into various interactive formats.

CASE STUDIES

Real life examples: AI strategies in action

Check out these two case studies to explore how other organizations have successfully incorporated AI into their employee training development strategy.

01: Rugby organization empowers everyday contributors

Discover how the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) uses AI to reduce the skills gap for course creation, leading to the following results.

Cut quality first draft creation time from 3 days to 15 minutes
75 percent faster time to train SMEs on course creator tools

Read the case study

02: Healthcare company streamlines high-quality content creation

Unpack how a top healthcare company maximizes productivity, improves course quality, and streamlines tech with AI built for e-learning. Key results include:

18 percent faster course creation
Reduced tech stack from multiple tools to a single tool for course development

Read the case study

To achieve better learning outcomes, we need concise content. But we live in a clinical world, and text-heavy slides are a big issue for us. With AI assistance, we could quickly clean up text, rewrite copy, and bring in voiceover and other elements to improve understanding and knowledge retention.

Senior instructional designer from a top healthcare system