A surge in orders requires you to call on a supplier to increase deliveries, and when you reach him in a Zoom meeting the supplier representative is actually an avatar powered by artificial intelligence and loaded with information and tactics honed by experience and never forgotten. If you want a good outcome, you had better be well prepared for the interaction yourself! Luckily, the encounter is only a case study in an online, on demand professional development program.
The business world is rapidly evolving, and successful organizations recognize the value of continuous learning. Digital applications are taking over routine tasks -- which gives an even higher value on strategic or people-to-people skills such as communications, negotiations, and stakeholder and supplier relationships. Many of these skills are important regardless of your job title or area of responsibility. Training programs in these areas are also generally expensive and difficult to run because the best ones involve live, instructor-led role playing of various scenarios.
Ironically, one solution to teach "people skills" doesn't involve people at all. Avatars powered by AI can deliver customized teaching simulations 24/7 over a laptop connected to the Internet. Since the avatar responds directly to what the trainee says, every session is unique and dependent on how the trainee interacts with the avatar until the case is resolved. Instead of a self-conscious conversation with another student, the session becomes a challenging learning tool. Since the interaction is logged and the outcome assessed, the trainee gets immediate feedback and perhaps a chance to try again to do better. It becomes a game instead of a chore.
From the organization's perspective the automatic, unbiased, detailed assessments of each interactive session provide valuable insights. The Head of Procurement or the Head of Development can see the collated quantitative results of how their team members are developing.
In short, the advantages of avatar-based training are straightforward.
- It can be delivered on demand any time it is convenient for the learner.
- It is realistic and challenging because the avatar can respond to any tactic the learner takes in the interaction.
- There is none of the self-consciousness of interacting with a co-worker in a live workshop.
- It generates valuable real-time information that identifies areas of improvement.
- Scenarios can be repeated with different outcomes -- creating a fun and safe learning experience.
The online battle game Fortnite often averages over a million players per day, so the popularity of avatar games is well established. A younger workforce especially can be quite comfortable with avatar environments.
As we migrate to VR headsets instead of laptops, full 3D immersion scenarios will come with it. It will be possible to create VR warehouses, VR processing areas or VR loading docks to safely familiarize new employees with workspaces and very likely the automatic equipment that will be operating in those spaces. The future is racing toward us, and we will probably hear the news of its arrival from an avatar.
