Adoption and impact
When we talk about education and training we tend to focus on teachers and trainers in vocational schools. But there is a whole other sector known as L&D – Learning and Development. According to the Association for Talent Development, the term learning and development, encompasses any professional development a business provides to its employees. It is considered to be a core area of human resources management, and may sometimes be referred to as training and development, learning and performance, or talent development (TD). Phil Hardman is a researcher and L&D professional. Her weekly newsletter is in interesting because of her […]
AI, Learning and Pedagogy
In the latest edition of Dr Phil’s newsletter, entitled ‘The Impact of Gen AI on Human Learning: a research summary’ Phil Hardman undertakes a literature review of the most recent and important peer-reviewed studies. And in contrast to some of the studies currently coming out, which tend to claim either amazing success or doom laden failure for the use of AI for learning, she adopts an analytical and nuanced viewpoint, examining the evidence and providing a list of key takeaways from each report, leading to implications for educators and developers. Here are the Key takeaways from each of the five […]
Alternative AI Futures for Lifelong Learning
Last Friday, 24 January, marked the UNESCO International Day of Education. And as part of that, the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning hosted a webinar on ‘Lifelong learning in the age of AI’ aiming “to bring together policymakers, practitioners, and researchers to revisit the idea of lifelong learning in the age of emerging technologies, with a thematic focus on lifelong learning as a concept, workplace learning, digital competencies of adult educators, and bridging the grey digital divide.” Current policies on AI and lifelong learning, they said, often adopt an instrumental and technologically deterministic approach, prioritising efficiency over human development and […]
DeepSeek: Innovation with Open Source Software
As I write this post, the newspaper headlines are focused on the record decline in value of tech shares, especially chip manufacturer Nvidia, following the release of the Open Source DeepSeek Large Language Model and platform. Most of the extensive news coverage has focused on the tech business and the likelihood that it represents a bubble, especially for the Generative AI companies, OpenAi, Anthrpopic Google and the like. The other ,main focus has been geopolitical, with China having caught up with the USA in AI development. For education, DeepSeek can be seen as good news. The domination of Generative AI […]
The Hype and the Reality
Its probably fair to say that the hype around Generative AI far outstrips the reality. Perhaps that is because in the slow process of discovering actual jobs which AI can do, copy editing and advertising is one of those at the forefront.And goven that the AI companies are very keen on hyping their products, there is an endless stream of artciples saying how wonderful AI is for almost every occupation. These articles almost always talk about how much time AI saves and how this increases productivity. Here’s an example from a company called Screenloop: “AI is not simply a tool—it’s […]
Survey of 18000 workers finds use of Chat GPT widespread
I have been moaning lately about the quality of so called research and publications about education, learning and the. use of Generative AI. Well, the hype is showing no signs of dying down but there does seem to be some pretty good research beginning to emerge. And I understand it takes time to do research especially if you are trying to find out about the potential impact of AI on learning. Anyway, one publication, not so much about formal education, but about the use of AI in work and its potential impact of employment, which I liked is a research […]
AI and the future of jobs: An update
One feature of the ongoing debates around Generative AI is that almost everything seems to be contested. While the big tech companies are ever bullish about the prospects for their new applications, controversy continues about the wider societal impact of these tools, including on education and employment. Despite the initial concerns of the impact of Generative AI on employment, it seemed that fears were overblown although this may now be changing. Even so replacement of staff by AI may depend not just on sectors and occupations but all on the organisation and size of companies. Of course the motivation of […]
Digital Pedagogies Rewilded
I’ve written a lot about AI and education over the last year. I’ve not written so much about AI and learning and I’m going to try to remedy this in the next year. I’ve been writing for the AI Pioneers project in which Pontydysgu is a partner.
How can we develop the European Technology industry?
Look at a list of the ten tech companies […]
Is it inevitable that AI will make us lazier?
I probably spend too much time reading newsletters but […]
