You Already Know How to Use AI

By Paul Wilson

Beginning in 2024, every eLearning conference, keynote, and breakout session was suddenly about artificial intelligence. AI was no longer something from the future—it was happening in the present. Predictions flew about how it would revolutionize our industry, reshape instructional design, and automate everything from storyboarding to scenario building.

And I’ll be honest: they weren’t wrong. I can’t think of another technology that’s improved my workflow more dramatically or quickly than AI. It’s now woven into nearly every step of my design and development cycle. From scripting video tutorials to drafting quiz questions, reviewing learning objectives, and even troubleshooting Adobe Captivate issues, AI is the silent partner beside me.

It’s also solved problems I didn’t know took up so much of my time.

For example, I spent 30 minutes or more just thinking of realistic example content to include in my YouTube tutorials. I wanted those examples to feel authentic—things a learner might encounter—but that ideation takes time. Now? I ask my AI assistant to give me an example of a four-item click-to-reveal interaction on customer service. Within seconds, I have usable content ready to drop into my project.

Another area where AI has made an enormous difference is working with legislation and compliance content. I can upload source material and ask my AI tool to pull out the legislated training requirements—and even make educated guesses about stretch goals that might be included in future updates. From there, I ask the AI to generate learning objectives aligned to those outcomes using Bloom’s taxonomy at the knowledge domain level. Before AI, I’d use the same verbs repeatedly and spend hours on this task. Now, the variety and clarity of the objectives are far stronger and come together in minutes instead of hours.

And I don’t stop there. I’ll ask the same tool to write quiz questions that align with those objectives—and even specify what types of questions to use based on the authoring tool I’m working with. Whether it’s multiple choice, matching, or sequencing, AI helps me get 90% of the way there in a fraction of the time.

AI has even solved the image and video problem.

Stock photography is great when you only need a smiling office worker or a handshake. But I remember working on a safety training course at the airport years ago where I needed a specific image: debris on a runway. I browsed every stock photo site I had access to, but nothing came close. Ultimately, I had to send someone out to the airfield with a camera and wait for them to snap a few usable shots. That one photo took hours to get. Today? That would be a 30-second prompt to an AI image generator—and I'd have a variety of realistic, customizable visuals in less time than it takes to open Photoshop.

But let’s get something straight:
The rise of AI has also created a gold rush of “expert” courses, tools, and clickbait promises. You can’t scroll TikTok or LinkedIn without seeing a breathless video telling you that if you just use this one prompt, or follow that 10-minute routine, you’ll become an AI wizard in 30 days. Most of it? Noise.

Here’s my take:
If you’ve ever had a thoughtful conversation—asked follow-up questions, refined your thinking, brainstormed ideas aloud—you already have the fundamental skill to use AI effectively. That’s it. ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and others? They’re just really fast, always-available brainstorming partners. You don’t need 30 tools. You need one or two you trust, and a clear idea of what you want to achieve.

And no, you don’t need to become a certified AI prompt engineer either.

You’re likely already doing what makes AI tools work: asking thoughtful questions, rephrasing when something doesn’t land, and talking through ideas like you would with a colleague or manager. If the AI doesn’t give you what you hoped for the first time? Just ask again, in a different way. That’s not failure—it’s collaboration.

Think of it this way:
AI isn’t about replacing your creativity or experience. It’s about accelerating them. The better you are at communicating your goals and refining your questions, the better the output you’ll get.

Oh—and by the way—I even used my favorite AI tool to help me organize my thoughts and write this blog post. That’s the beauty of it: collaboration, not delegation. But of course, check them whenever your AI tool offers up links or references. Validating your sources is critical, especially when your work will influence what others learn, believe, or apply in their roles. Accuracy still matters, and critical thinking is still the secret weapon.

So, the next time someone tries to sell you a 57-module course to unlock your AI potential, remember this:
You don’t need to start from scratch. You need to start the conversation.

Now it's your turn.
How has AI changed the way you work?
Are you using it for scripting, brainstorming, editing, or something else entirely?
Drop a comment below—I’d love to hear how you're putting AI to use in your learning and development projects.