Embracing AI Education

Breaking Barriers and Unlocking Opportunities

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming industries, yet the journey to fully integrate AI into our strategies is not without its challenges. One of the most critical components in this journey is education and training—ensuring that professionals at every level understand how to wield AI effectively and ethically.

According to reputable studies and surveys, most professionals have explored the plethora of AI tools that are easily accessible and generally affordable, if not free. This exploration is often done purely out of curiosity. However, some organizations have created AI Councils that either encourage the use of AI or actually direct the use of AI according to set policies and procedures.

Whether you work at a company that provides AI training (this is still a rarity) or you are finding out about courses on your own, you still might feel like you’re trying to boil the ocean. A strategic and structured approach to learning about AI can break down barriers and unlock opportunities.

What to Expect from AI Education

Basic AI education and training include an introduction to the building blocks (e.g., Machine Learning (ML), Deep Learning, and Generative AI). Those who are self-training often start by exploring the plethora of available AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Midjourney and DALL?E.

Examine your own expectations from AI Education. The options are endless, and it’s easy to go down rabbit holes. Even with specific use cases in mind, knowing where to start can be daunting. Know where you want your learning journey to take you before setting off.

Roadmap for an AI Learning Journey

Everyone’s learning journey is different. Some start with an objective in mind. Others are reacting to FOMO (fear of missing out). Still, others might be exposed to AI through software they use routinely that has been infused with AI features, piquing their interest. Microsoft’s Co-Pilot and Google’s Gemini come to mind.

With a basic understanding of AI, you can determine your starting point for more focused training and education. With a roadmap in front of you, and depending on your situation, you can follow a path of self-learning or choose a course or curriculum that’s appropriate for your learning needs.

The roadmap for your AI learning journey could include an audit of an existing workflow or of your tech stack to see where AI is a natural fit. Another approach to designing your roadmap could involve a strategy such as the one demonstrated in this OPE Template (Outcomes, Priorities, Elements). The OPE approach is part of the coursework offered by the AI Marketing Forum.

Commitment is Key

No matter your approach, it takes serious commitment to learn enough about AI to apply it in a way that enables you to benefit from it.

If your learning journey so far has been haphazard and without focus, you have probably experienced AI’s “average intelligence.” It leaves most people disillusioned or disappointed, With a deeper level of AI education and training, you can discover how to train AI to do so much more for you.

Attaining a deeper level of understanding requires a commitment (there’s that word again) to consistently explore, experiment, and envision.

Along my own learning journey, I adopted structures that put me on a path that aimed to achieve specific goals. In addition to establishing a roadmap to guide me, I documented my progress which provided me with effective trails of breadcrumbs. These breadcrumbs bring me back to the roadmap of my learning journey. Revisiting those paths helps to deepen my understanding, discover new concepts, and stay current with issues around AI, which are constantly evolving.

The First Leg of the Journey

Where do you (or your organization) stand on the journey of fully integrating AI into your operational strategies? Find your position on the AI maturity ladder. Use this self-reporting assessment to determine where to go from where you are, to measure progress along the way, and to understand the ongoing need for education and training in the field of AI.