ChatGPT, the automotive industry, and the void in learning

Before Microsoft announced the integration of ChatGPT into Bing earlier this week, I didn't miss AI in our daily digital lives. 

Now, it's hard to miss the usefulness of AI

First demo ChatGPT in Bing on February 7, 2023

AI suddenly became very valuable to the average consumer. I use AI to write every day, as do so many others. The sheer volume of posts, tweets and videos explaining how to use ChatGPT shows the extent of the knowledge gap that needed to be filled.

Similarly, there is a lack of technical training in the automotive industry.

The automotive industry's need for technical skills is at an all time high and vital for survival, and car manufacturers are releasing learning investments (which are still falling short).

One would expect learning service providers to respond to the increased demand. In this article, we take a look at the landscape of learning providers specializing in technical skills training in the automotive industry.

Automotive learning providers are not yet ready for the challenge

The common viewpoint in the automotive industry for any training outside of manufacturing is: let's get the skills we need. Let's find an expert agency to guide us through the process. Let's outsource.

If you try it yourself, you'll realize how difficult it is to find a supplier with a solution.

1. The supplier landscape of the learning industry is fragmented and heterogeneous, with only a few having relevant experience in the automotive industry. In addition, the automotive industry is changing at a rapid pace and learning suppliers are not leading the way.
2. Automotive manufacturers are leading the way in technical skills training for production workers, including virtual reality and augmented reality. However, this expertise does not apply to training employees in areas such as software, battery technology, data science, etc.
3. Most of the technical training took place physically, provided on site. COVID has moved most of this training online. As a result, many service providers are investing in their own platforms. The spread of new platforms poses integration and security challenges for car manufacturers.

As a result, L&D and procurement spend a lot of time evaluating and integrating platform providers, only to find that none of the providers offer a comprehensive solution to the technical training requirements.

However, this creates a classic "Kansas City Shuffle": everyone is looking in one direction, even though the action is happening somewhere else.

While L&D experts and learning providers are looking in one direction, the gap is somewhere else.

What we need is training in technical skills that are relevant to the future work of employees.

What we need is learner-friendly, context-based, high-quality content microlearning sessions that increase engagement and completion rates. Imagine Amazon data strategy and management training designed for managers and employees in the automotive industry, delivered 24/7. Including direct access to practitioners and experts.

This is what I was looking for 4 years ago.

In February 2023, it still doesn't exist.

That's the void I can't overlook.

Closing this gap is obvious: both learning providers and L&D need to realign their joint focus where learning needs are painfully high.

Let training in production go its own way.

Reinvent the way technical skills are taught in the daily work context of knowledge workers in the automotive industry, because this is where future value creation is created.

Both industries, automotive and learning, will eventually discover how big the gap for employees really is.

But the challenge for us is even greater.

Attention is a finite resource - everyone has a limited amount of it.

Managers and executives act as role models and multipliers of learning.

They set the agenda, communicate and explain, drive forward and make decisions. Managers are crucial in retraining their teams.

A professional, on the other hand, is skilled at filtering information.

Every manager is constantly inundated with information such as meetings, emails, presentations and social media.

The attention economy has proven itself in business.

Every person who is healthy, productive and successful has developed sophisticated filters. This is how large organizations function and how people deal with the battle for attention. In addition, the daily growing tsunami of information serves as regular training for these filters for any leader, manager or employee.

Therefore, these filters must be passed before learning can take place. For example, if a learning element is not relevant to the current work context, the lesson will be caught by these filters and suppressed.

A learning designer understands this because it is their job.

Relevant material produced and delivered in the context of a learner is the white spot for every L&D expert and learning provider in the automotive industry by 2030.

The days of knowledge overload are over.

Old news for you?

Then you are probably an L&D specialist yourself.

Most companies have the technology to offer context-driven learning 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And that is a necessary condition for what follows.

What's missing, however, is top-notch content and compelling learning designs that drive completion rates. Because of the scope of the job, L&D managers are rarely targeted for technical training.

Remember, only material that is important to becoming more productive, growing in your profession and being recognized will pass the filter.

The days of flooding the market with knowledge to make up for a lack of technical training are over. Learning needs to become much more meaningful and efficient.

Creating a ChatGPT-like buzz

The task is to find the best and most relevant content and design learning experiences that fit into the workflow. And to use learning technology to "sell" that learning into the attention economy of your key people.

Once managers and opinion leaders evaluate a learning program as meaningful and having practical value, the "avalanche of knowledge" will turn into a "tech learning frenzy."

ChatGPT is proof of this. Everyone with significance on Twitter, LinkedIn, in business, research and politics rates AI as the tech revolution of the last few years. Suddenly, millions of people are spending hours learning how to use artificial intelligence to become more efficient, knowledgeable and successful in their daily lives.

Learning tech skills in the automotive industry has all the aspects to generate the same excitement. It has happened many times in history. It's what has made car companies great.

Once this happens, you will no longer be able to overlook the gap in technical skills training in the automotive industry.