{"id":126393,"date":"2025-04-03T08:50:54","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T12:50:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/?post_type=magazine&#038;p=126393"},"modified":"2025-04-03T09:38:42","modified_gmt":"2025-04-03T13:38:42","slug":"what-do-employees-still-need-to-know-in-the-age-of-ai","status":"publish","type":"magazine","link":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/magazine\/spring-2025\/what-do-employees-still-need-to-know-in-the-age-of-ai\/","title":{"rendered":"What Do Employees Still Need to Know in the Age of AI?"},"author":34,"featured_media":123065,"template":"","tags":[30070,2464,14213],"class_list":["post-126393","magazine","type-magazine","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-ai-skills","tag-knowledge-management","tag-training-industry-magazine","global_topic_tax-learning-technologies","magazine_issue_tax-spring-2025","magazine_article_type_tax-thought-leader","magazine_article_type_tax-whats-next-in-tech"],"acf":{"sponsored":false,"gated":false,"gated_content_type":"","file_attachment":null,"gated_content":"","form_instruction_header":"To access the full article, please fill out the form below:","pardot_html_embed":"","author_override":true,"author_name":"JD Dillon","author_image":"","author_bio":"JD Dillon is a veteran talent development leader, former Disney cast member and author of \u201cThe Modern Learning Ecosystem.\u201d With more than 25 years of experience in operations and talent management at organizations like Disney, Kaplan, and AMC, JD helps people do their best work every day as chief learning architect at Axonify and founder of LearnGeek.","excerpt":"While AI holds great promise \u2014 and more organizations are finding value every day \u2014 it raises a critical question: How will tech shift what employees need to know?","main_content":"\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d\r\n\r\nNo one likes to hear it. Customers find it frustrating. Employees feel deflated saying it. In some jobs, not knowing can lead to serious consequences. Yet, \u201cI don\u2019t know\u201d remains a common workplace issue, often exposing gaps in organizational learning practices.\r\n\r\nWorse than \u201cI don\u2019t know\u201d is the time wasted overcoming it. Searching for answers often involves sifting through scattered resources across SharePoint sites or Teams channels. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mckinsey.com\/industries\/technology-media-and-telecommunications\/our-insights\/the-social-economy\">McKinsey found<\/a> employees spend an average of 1.8 hours per day searching for information. That\u2019s equivalent to 1 in 5 employees doing nothing but looking for help.\r\n<h2>AI Enters the Chat<\/h2>\r\nTech vendors are making bold claims about artificial intelligence\u2019s (AI\u2019s) ability to revolutionize knowledge sharing. It\u2019s easy to see why people are excited. Who wouldn\u2019t want a digital co-worker that can pinpoint the exact information you need, tailor it to your role and present it in your preferred language?\r\n\r\nWhile AI holds great promise \u2014 and more organizations are finding value every day \u2014 it raises a critical question: How will tech shift what employees need to know? Does expertise still matter in an AI-enabled workplace? The answer isn\u2019t a simple yes\/no. Rather, it requires rethinking how knowledge is developed and applied on the job. AI won\u2019t render knowing obsolete, but it will force us to reprioritize our learning and development (L&amp;D) efforts.\r\n<h2>The Case for Knowing<\/h2>\r\nThere are certain things people must know to do their jobs well. A manufacturing worker must use personal protective equipment correctly to stay safe. A server must recall menu ingredients to address dietary concerns. Every role has \u201cneed-to-knows.\u201d AI doesn\u2019t change that \u2014 as long as people are still doing the work.\r\n\r\nThen there\u2019s everything else \u2014 additional knowledge that helps employees excel. \u201cNice-to-knows\u201d might include troubleshooting tips or upselling techniques. Essential and supplementary knowledge are often off balance. Subject matter experts push excessive detail into training while L&amp;D overloads employees with upfront information. This overwhelms people\u2019s limited memories, reduces training effectiveness and hinders performance.\r\n<h2>Restoring Balance<\/h2>\r\nModern tech gives us a chance to rebalance the learning experience. \u201cCan employees complete the task correctly without this knowledge?\u201d If yes, make the info available on-demand via performance support. If no, include it in structured training to make sure people understand the basics.\r\n\r\nInstead of overloading employees on day one, teach them how to handle \u201cI don\u2019t know\u201d moments on their own. In contact centers, the first thing we taught new agents was how to navigate our knowledge base. This dramatically reduced onboarding time while empowering employees to solve problems \u2014 and this was years before AI advanced our performance support capabilities.\r\n<h2>More Than a Crutch<\/h2>\r\nTech can also help employees retain critical knowledge. By analyzing training history and performance data, AI-powered systems deliver personalized refreshers tailored to individual needs. For example, if an employee\u2019s customer service scores are low, the system can nudge the manager to have a targeted coaching conversation.\r\n\r\nAdditionally, AI facilitates techniques like spaced learning and retrieval practice. For example, a learning management system (LMS) can deliver daily practice activities to reinforce key concepts, ensuring employees retain critical need-to-know information that directly impacts their performance. This helps employees confidently apply essential knowledge while also preparing them to handle real-world situations effectively.\r\n<h2>Knowledge in the Age of AI<\/h2>\r\nIn L&amp;D, we often emphasize skills over know-how, but foundational knowledge remains vital. We must strike a balance between what employees need to retain and what they can access on demand as AI transforms the workplace. By leveraging tech to both reinforce critical knowledge and support performance, we empower employees to act with confidence and competence.\r\n\r\nDo we still need to know? Absolutely \u2014 and technology will enable workplace learning to become more focused, practical, relevant and, most importantly, truly centered on people.","full_width":false,"content_band":[{"acf_fc_layout":"social_callout","blockquote":"Modern tech gives us a chance to rebalance the learning experience."}],"tice_sponsors":"","custom_dfp_keywords":"","featured_article":false,"feature_type":"","theme":"","remove_gradient":false,"title_in_image":false,"featured_text_image":null,"magazine_link":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.8 (Yoast SEO v27.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What Do Employees Still Need to Know in the Age of AI?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"While AI holds great promise \u2014 it raises a critical question: How will tech shift what employees need to know?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/magazine\/spring-2025\/what-do-employees-still-need-to-know-in-the-age-of-ai\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Do Employees Still Need to Know in the Age of AI?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"While AI holds great promise \u2014 it raises a critical question: How will tech shift what employees need to know?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/magazine\/spring-2025\/what-do-employees-still-need-to-know-in-the-age-of-ai\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Training Industry\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TrainingIndustry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-03T13:38:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/assets-staging.trainingindustry.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/2025-next_in_tech_thumb.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@TrainingIndustr\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trainingindustry.com\\\/magazine\\\/spring-2025\\\/what-do-employees-still-need-to-know-in-the-age-of-ai\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trainingindustry.com\\\/magazine\\\/spring-2025\\\/what-do-employees-still-need-to-know-in-the-age-of-ai\\\/\",\"name\":\"What Do Employees Still Need to Know in the Age of AI?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trainingindustry.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trainingindustry.com\\\/magazine\\\/spring-2025\\\/what-do-employees-still-need-to-know-in-the-age-of-ai\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trainingindustry.com\\\/magazine\\\/spring-2025\\\/what-do-employees-still-need-to-know-in-the-age-of-ai\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trainingindustry.com\\\/content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/2025-next_in_tech_thumb.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-03T12:50:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-03T13:38:42+00:00\",\"description\":\"While AI holds great promise \u2014 it raises a critical question: How will tech shift what employees need to know?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trainingindustry.com\\\/magazine\\\/spring-2025\\\/what-do-employees-still-need-to-know-in-the-age-of-ai\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/trainingindustry.com\\\/magazine\\\/spring-2025\\\/what-do-employees-still-need-to-know-in-the-age-of-ai\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trainingindustry.com\\\/magazine\\\/spring-2025\\\/what-do-employees-still-need-to-know-in-the-age-of-ai\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trainingindustry.com\\\/content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/2025-next_in_tech_thumb.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trainingindustry.com\\\/content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/2025-next_in_tech_thumb.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trainingindustry.com\\\/magazine\\\/spring-2025\\\/what-do-employees-still-need-to-know-in-the-age-of-ai\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trainingindustry.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Magazine Article\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trainingindustry.com\\\/magazine\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"What Do Employees Still Need to Know in the Age of AI?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trainingindustry.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trainingindustry.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Training Industry\",\"description\":\"Articles, research and tools for the L&amp;D professional. Insights for managing the business of learning.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trainingindustry.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trainingindustry.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trainingindustry.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Training Industry, Inc\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trainingindustry.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trainingindustry.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trainingindustry.com\\\/content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/10\\\/training_industry_logo_stacked_RGB1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trainingindustry.com\\\/content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/10\\\/training_industry_logo_stacked_RGB1.png\",\"width\":371,\"height\":113,\"caption\":\"Training Industry, Inc\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trainingindustry.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/TrainingIndustry\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/TrainingIndustr\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/trainingindustr\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/training-industry-inc-\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/TrainingIndustry\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What Do Employees Still Need to Know in the Age of AI?","description":"While AI holds great promise \u2014 it raises a critical question: How will tech shift what employees need to know?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/magazine\/spring-2025\/what-do-employees-still-need-to-know-in-the-age-of-ai\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What Do Employees Still Need to Know in the Age of AI?","og_description":"While AI holds great promise \u2014 it raises a critical question: How will tech shift what employees need to know?","og_url":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/magazine\/spring-2025\/what-do-employees-still-need-to-know-in-the-age-of-ai\/","og_site_name":"Training Industry","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TrainingIndustry\/","article_modified_time":"2025-04-03T13:38:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/assets-staging.trainingindustry.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/2025-next_in_tech_thumb.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@TrainingIndustr","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/magazine\/spring-2025\/what-do-employees-still-need-to-know-in-the-age-of-ai\/","url":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/magazine\/spring-2025\/what-do-employees-still-need-to-know-in-the-age-of-ai\/","name":"What Do Employees Still Need to Know in the Age of AI?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/magazine\/spring-2025\/what-do-employees-still-need-to-know-in-the-age-of-ai\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/magazine\/spring-2025\/what-do-employees-still-need-to-know-in-the-age-of-ai\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/2025-next_in_tech_thumb.jpg","datePublished":"2025-04-03T12:50:54+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-03T13:38:42+00:00","description":"While AI holds great promise \u2014 it raises a critical question: How will tech shift what employees need to know?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/magazine\/spring-2025\/what-do-employees-still-need-to-know-in-the-age-of-ai\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/magazine\/spring-2025\/what-do-employees-still-need-to-know-in-the-age-of-ai\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/magazine\/spring-2025\/what-do-employees-still-need-to-know-in-the-age-of-ai\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/2025-next_in_tech_thumb.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/2025-next_in_tech_thumb.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/magazine\/spring-2025\/what-do-employees-still-need-to-know-in-the-age-of-ai\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Magazine Article","item":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/magazine\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"What Do Employees Still Need to Know in the Age of AI?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/","name":"Training Industry","description":"Articles, research and tools for the L&amp;D professional. Insights for managing the business of learning.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/#organization","name":"Training Industry, Inc","url":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/training_industry_logo_stacked_RGB1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/training_industry_logo_stacked_RGB1.png","width":371,"height":113,"caption":"Training Industry, Inc"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TrainingIndustry\/","https:\/\/x.com\/TrainingIndustr","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/trainingindustr\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/training-industry-inc-","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/TrainingIndustry"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/magazine\/126393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/magazine"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/magazine"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/magazine\/126393\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":126394,"href":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/magazine\/126393\/revisions\/126394"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}