And 6 ways AI can make a difference
E-learning creation has been a fixture in the arsenal of HR and L&D departments for years. Organizations are investing heavily in learning platforms, ready-made courses and self-developed modules. On paper, it sounds ideal: employees can learn where and when it suits them, knowledge is secured in the organization and you meet compliance or development obligations.
Yet in practice, you often see something else happening. E-learnings are completed to a limited extent, modules remain untouched in the LMS and the impact on work performance is minimal. The problem is rarely in the technology itself, but almost always in the content. And that’s exactly where AI can be a breakthrough. Read in this blog how to make e-learning in your LMS relevant with the help of AI.
Known pitfalls why your e-learnings go unused
1. Lack of relevance
Every employee is different. Different functions, experience levels, backgrounds, interests and ambitions make it impossible to serve everyone with one generic e-learning. A standard module feels too simple for one person, too theoretical for another, and inapplicable for yet another. The result: disinterest.
2. Not enough time for development
HR and L&D teams see the importance of good training, but practice is recalcitrant. There is simply no time to constantly develop new programs or maintain existing content. As a result, standard content is often chosen that seems broadly applicable, but ultimately doesn’t really land with the target audience.
3. Fragmented knowledge
Within virtually every organization, a tremendous amount of knowledge already exists – in manuals, PowerPoints, internal wikis, minutes and employee expertise. The problem: that knowledge is fragmented, difficult to access and not in the right form. As a result, valuable information remains untapped.
4. No differentiation between levels
Many trainings do not distinguish between beginners and advanced. This leads to frustration. Beginners get overwhelmed, while experienced employees drop out because they don’t learn anything new. In either case, the training is not completed and the investment is lost.
5. Outdated content
The world is changing rapidly. New tools, processes and insights follow each other in rapid succession. E-learnings that are not continuously updated age rapidly and lose their value. Because it takes a lot of time and money to refresh content, organizations are often left behind.
6. Niche topics without a standard solution
Not everything can be captured in standard courses. For specialized topics – think internal compliance procedures, unique customer processes or a specific software stack – there are no ready-made e-learnings. This very knowledge is often crucial to the organization, but is missing from the training offerings.
7. Language barriers
Many organizations work with English-language training, but that is a barrier for many employees. Especially when the material is complex or detailed, you want to be able to understand it in your own language. The lack of local languages makes training less effective.
8. Inefficient use of documentation
Documentation and manuals often already contain the answers employees are looking for, but they are too static and insufficiently integrated into the learning process. Instead of being the basis for training, this knowledge remains in SharePoint folders or PDFs.
9. Lack of practical usability.
The biggest pitfall: training courses that don’t connect to everyday work. Employees take a course, but do not recognize the examples or lack tools to apply what they have learned. Without a link to practice, knowledge quickly disappears and trainings feel like lost time.
The impact of low quality e-learnings
The consequence of all these obstacles is clear: e-learning is underutilized. Employees drop out, training goes unfinished, and organizations do not get a sufficient return on their L&D investments. It creates frustration for both employees and HR teams creating e-learns and leads to a learning climate where training is seen as a mandatory number, not an opportunity to get better.
And that’s a shame. Because good learning can make a huge contribution to productivity, engagement and innovation. It just requires a different approach.
How AI makes a difference
The key to successful e-learning lies in hyper-relevant, current and accessible content that moves with the organization and the individual employee. And this is precisely where AI offers tremendous opportunities.
1. Creating customized e-learnings for everyone
AI allows content to automatically adapt to the user’s level, function and learning style. This way, training always feels personally relevant and engaging. Scientific research from Cornell University recently showed that generative AI-powered e-learnings, tailored to the career goals of individual learners, lead to significantly longer session duration, higher satisfaction ánd more efficient studying.
2. Rapid development and updating
Instead of weeks or months of development, AI can generate an initial version of a training course in a matter of hours. In addition, content can be automatically updated as soon as processes or regulations change. That makes training courses always current and prevents employees from learning from outdated information.
3. Smart use of existing knowledge
AI can convert existing documentation – manuals, PowerPoints, internal reports – into usable training modules. This unlocks the knowledge present in the organization and gives it a practical, applicable form.
4. Automatic translations and language variations.
AI quickly translates training courses into multiple languages and adapts the tone to the target audience. This eliminates language barriers and makes knowledge accessible to all employees, regardless of background.
5. Hands-on learning
With AI, scenarios, quizzes and cases can be easily tailored to the reality of the organization. Employees recognize the situations and can immediately apply what they have learned to their work. This increases the impact and learning efficiency.
6. Scalable and flexible
Whether you need one training course for a small team, or a full curriculum for thousands of employees worldwide: AI makes scaling up easy. New training courses are quickly created, modified and shared.
From e-learning to learning culture
Using AI goes beyond just creating content faster. It enables organizations to truly create a learning and development culture:
- Continuous learning: knowledge is constantly refreshed and added to.
- Autonomy for employees: everyone can shape his or her learning path to suit ambitions and work.
- Knowledge sharing: the expertise already present in the organization is secured and shared.
- Engagement: Learning no longer feels like an obligation, but an opportunity to grow.
Conclusion: the promise of AI in e-learning
E-learnings often fail because they are too generic, outdated or not applicable. The problem lies not with the technology, but with the content. AI offers a breakthrough: it makes training relevant, current, scalable, and more closely aligned with employee practices.
Only when trainings are truly connected to daily work will they be used and deliver the desired impact.
Want to experience how this works? Try the
