Artificial intelligence to help create Just in Time training resources

Ufi Charitable Trust has announced the next phase of its £1m investment in projects that use digital technology to improve how vocational learning is delivered in the manufacturing sector.

It has awarded £100,000 for project led by Youthforce, a provider of STEM apprenticeship training, which aims to deliver online training to apprentices in the workplace, using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to create, curate and consolidate learning content.

By using artificial Intelligence, the tool could significantly reduce the time and cost of developing learning resources for apprentices. Together with its ability to reach large numbers through all devices, it can be delivered as a Just in Time, rapid rollout facility to ensure the learning it delivers keeps pace with industry changes as they occur.

The project – titled Making Apprenticeships Work – will reportedly partner with large and SME manufacturers to trial the technology and provide a practical demonstration of how AI can simplify and speed up the creation of digital learning content, bringing content creation within the reach of many more organisations.

The project uses the AI tool Wildfire™ to produce effective, personalised, digital vocational learning content from a wide range of training resources created by employers or training providers. The tool can generate e-learning content automatically from documents, PowerPoint presentations or videos within minutes, with automatic links to Wikipedia pages and other external resources, such as YouTube, to adapt and enhance the learning journey based on learner’s preferences.

The key advantage of the tool, according to Ufi, is that Wildfire™ generated content is more easily retained by the learners, with instant follow up ‘fill in the blank’ activities to reinforce learning.

The training content produced will help apprentices meet the requirements of New Apprenticeship Standards, helping them learn and retain the knowledge and competences for the newly introduced end-point assessment and reducing the risks of drop-out and failure which is costly for apprenticeship providers, employers and learners.