Are AI Hallucinations Impacting Your Employee Training Strategy?
If you are in the field of L&D, you have certainly noticed that Artificial Intelligence is becoming an increasingly frequent tool. Training teams are using it to streamline content development, create robust chatbots to accompany employees in their learning journey, and design personalized learning experiences that perfectly fit learner needs, among others. However, despite the many benefits of using AI in L&D, the risk of hallucinations threatens to spoil the experience. Failing to notice that AI has generated false or misleading content and using it in your training strategy may carry more negative consequences than you think. In this article, we explore 6 hidden risks of AI hallucinations for businesses and their L&D programs.
6 Consequences Of Unchecked AI Hallucinations In L&D Content
Compliance Risks
A significant portion of corporate training focuses on topics around compliance, including work safety, business ethics, and various regulatory requirements. An AI hallucination in this type of training content could lead to many issues. For example, imagine an AI-powered chatbot suggesting an incorrect safety procedure or an outdated GDPR guideline. If your employees don't realize that the information they're receiving is flawed, either because they are new to the profession or because they trust the technology, they could expose themselves and the organization to an array of legal troubles, fines, and reputational damage.
Inadequate Onboarding
Onboarding is a key milestone in an employee's learning journey and a stage where the risk of AI hallucinations is highest. AI inaccuracies are most likely to go unnoticed during onboarding because new hires lack prior experience with the organization and its practices. Therefore, if the AI tool fabricates an inexistent bonus or perk, employees will accept it as true only to later feel misled and disappointed when they discover the truth. Such mistakes can tarnish the onboarding experience, causing frustration and disengagement before new employees have had the chance to settle into their roles or form meaningful connections with colleagues and supervisors.
Loss Of Credibility
The word about inconsistencies and errors in your training program can spread quickly, especially when you have invested in building a learning community within your organization. If that happens, learners may begin to lose confidence in the entirety of your L&D strategy. Besides, how can you assure them that an AI hallucination was a one-time occurrence instead of a recurring issue? This is a risk of AI hallucinations that you cannot take lightly, as once learners become unsure of your credibility, it can be incredibly challenging to convince them of the opposite and re-engage them in future learning initiatives.
Reputational Damage
In some cases, dealing with the skepticism of your workforce regarding AI hallucinations may be a manageable risk. But what happens when you need to convince external partners and clients about the quality of your L&D strategy, rather than just your own team? In that case, your organization's reputation may take a hit from which it might struggle to recover. Establishing a brand image that inspires others to trust your product takes substantial time and resources, and the last thing you would want is having to rebuild it because you made the mistake of overrelying on AI-powered tools.
Increased Costs
Businesses primarily use Artificial Intelligence in their Learning and Development strategies to save time and resources. However, AI hallucinations can have the opposite effect. When a hallucination occurs, Instructional Designers must spend hours combing through the AI-generated materials to determine where, when, and how the mistakes appear. If the problem is extensive, organizations may have to retrain their AI tools, a particularly lengthy and costly process. Another less direct way the risk of AI hallucination can impact your bottom line is by delaying the learning process. If users need to spend additional time fact-checking AI content, their productivity might be reduced due to the lack of instant access to reliable information.
Inconsistent Knowledge Transfer
Knowledge transfer is one of the most valuable processes that takes place within an organization. It involves the sharing of information among employees, empowering them to reach the maximum level of productivity and efficiency in their daily tasks. However, when AI systems generate contradictory responses, this chain of knowledge breaks down. For example, one employee may receive a certain set of instructions from another, even if they have used similar prompts, leading to confusion and reducing knowledge retention. Apart from impacting the knowledge base that you have available for current and future employees, AI hallucinations pose significant risks, particularly in high-stakes industries, where mistakes can have serious consequences.
Are You Putting Too Much Trust In Your AI System?
An increase in AI hallucinations indicates a broader issue that may impact your organization in more ways than one, and that is an overreliance on Artificial Intelligence. While this new technology is impressive and promising, it is often treated by professionals like an all-knowing power that can do no wrong. At this point of AI development, and perhaps for many more years to come, this technology will not and should not operate without human oversight. Therefore, if you notice a surge of hallucinations in your L&D strategy, it probably means that your team has put too much trust in the AI to figure out what it's supposed to do without particular guidance. But that could not be further from the truth. AI is not capable of recognizing and correcting mistakes. On the contrary, it is more likely to replicate and amplify them.
Striking A Balance To Address The Risk Of AI Hallucinations
It is essential for businesses to first understand that the use of AI comes with a certain risk and then have dedicated teams that will keep a close eye on AI-powered tools. This includes checking their outputs, running audits, updating data, and retraining systems regularly. This way, while organizations may not be able to completely eradicate the risk of AI hallucinations, they will be able to significantly reduce their response time so that they can be quickly addressed. As a result, learners will have access to high-quality content and robust AI-powered assistants that don't overshadow human expertise, but rather enhance and highlight it.
