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Read the articleIt is 10 p.m. the night before a session. You need ten quiz questions, three practical cases and a reminder message. You open an AI assistant, paste your course outline, and two minutes later you have a first version of everything. About three quarters of it is right. The question is which quarter is not.
What AI does well for a trainer
It is useful when the task is to produce a first version that you will then correct.
- Draft questions. Ten quiz questions from an outline, which you keep, rewrite or bin.
- Rewordings. A dense instruction becomes shorter, an expert paragraph becomes readable for a beginner.
- Variants. The same exercise set in three different work contexts, so each group sees itself in it.
- Proofreading. Spotting an ambiguous sentence, an unexplained acronym, a jump in the reasoning.
The gain is real, but it concerns preparation. The time saved is only worth something if you reinvest it with your learners.
What it does badly, and why you must check
An AI assistant writes with the same confidence when it is right and when it is wrong. It can invent a date, a reference, a rule. It knows neither your audience, nor your sector, nor what your group covered last week.
Two more limits matter. Generated questions often test surface recall rather than understanding: it is up to you to ask for cases, not definitions. And whatever you paste into the tool leaves your computer: no learner data, no confidential documents from a client, unless you know exactly where they go.
What remains your job
| Task | AI can help with | What stays with you |
|---|---|---|
| Designing a course | Proposing a starting outline | Deciding the objective and the order |
| Writing a quiz | Producing drafts | Choosing useful traps, validating each answer |
| Marking work | Spotting errors of form | Judging the reasoning, giving personal feedback |
| Motivating | Drafting a template message | Knowing who needs a call rather than a message |
What moves a learner forward is the feeling of being seen. Feedback such as "your second argument holds, the first does not answer the question" cannot be delegated, because it requires knowing the person.
Three things to try this week
- The quiz draft. Give the outline of a module, ask for eight multiple-choice questions with explanations, then delete the three weakest. Our article on building a quiz that makes people learn tells you what to look for.
- The short version. Paste an instruction of three paragraphs and ask for one of four lines. Compare, and keep yours if it is more accurate.
- The counter-examples. Ask for five common beginner mistakes on your subject. Check them against what you have seen in real life, and add the ones no tool knows.
What UNESCO says
In 2023 UNESCO published guidance on generative AI in education and research. It stresses a human-centred approach, validating tools before use, and protecting users' data. In 2024 it also published an AI competency framework for teachers. These texts are written for education, but the logic holds for professional training: the tool serves the person, not the other way round.
Your country
This article makes no claim about national law, and it applies in the same way in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. If you use AI tools with learner data, check the rules of your own country and of your employer or awarding body before you start.
Frequently asked questions
Will AI replace trainers?
Nothing allows us to say so. It takes over part of content production, but support, judgement and relationship remain human tasks. The job shifts towards those tasks.
Should I tell my learners that I use AI?
It is good practice, and it reassures people: say what you generated and what you checked and corrected. It also gives you a chance to show them how to use it themselves.
Can I trust the sources AI cites?
Not without opening them. An assistant can produce a plausible reference that does not exist. Check the author, title and year in a reliable database before reusing it.
What is the first thing to test?
Producing quiz drafts for a module you know well. You spot errors quickly, and you measure the time really saved.
In summary
AI speeds up preparation and leaves untouched the part that makes people learn: personal feedback and judgement. Check everything, hand over no sensitive data, and reinvest the time saved with your learners. Next step: pick a module, have a quiz draft generated, then time how long the checking takes.
To go further, the 3 indicators that are enough show where to put that regained time.
Sources
- UNESCO, "Guidance for generative AI in education and research", 2023, accessed 14 October 2026.
- UNESCO, "AI in education", overview page covering the AI competency framework for teachers (2024), accessed 14 October 2026.
The Kognisia team
Kognisia designs a SaaS learning platform, with a training catalogue and white label as options.
Kognisia designs a SaaS learning platform, with a training catalogue and white label as options.