Although we have the feeling that AI technology is a recent product, it has been present in our lives since the first part of the last century. From its conceptualization in 1935 by Allan Turing and the writing of the first AI-type program in 1951 by Christopher Strachey to today when it is already used to diagnose a wide range of diseases, this technology has sparked interest and fear in equal measure .
But why are we discussing AI in a field such as Training & Development which is characterized by deeply personal experiences, in which we talk about human-to-human connection, and which is under a much broader hat, called more than symbolically, "Human Resources"?
To answer this question, let's take some examples from the sales and management area.
We all know that in sales, a formalized sales process is one of the ingredients of success.
In the same way, we also know that the representatives of a numerous and extensive sales force should be aligned to the point of overlap regarding the essential elements of an interaction with a customer. That phases such as investigating a sales opportunity or demonstrating skills must be completed according to the same framework, regardless of whether the representative is a junior sales person with 6 months of experience in Iasi or a senior sales person in Oradea. Or that the treatment of the famous sales objection, "it's expensive", should be done the same way, each time asking: "Expensive compared to what?"
If we leave aside the sale and move towards management, wouldn't we want the feedback regarding a less productive behavior to take place every time according to the same framework? No matter in which department we meet it, no matter who is the manager who gives the feedback or the employee who receives it?
How can we ensure that these essential behaviors are used uniformly, by all employees, in their daily work?
The most advanced solution to this challenge is called Pitchboy, and it is a conversation simulator that offers immersive experiences designed to support professional training.
Just as athletes train through various exercises to form their muscle memory, the Pitchboy simulator helps employees develop those essential automatisms that they should use during a conversation.
Just as the flight simulator helps pilots to train in real conditions, Pitchboy is a flight simulator for a wide variety of roles in companies and which has the mission of turning knowledge into skills by replicating real conversations from everyday work with day.
How does he do that?! With the help of Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence.
Virtual reality helps us to simulate the environment in which the conversation takes place (office, shop) and with the help of AI we build the character with whom the user will dialogue, in conditions very close to reality. Once developed, role play can be played from anywhere, on any equipment and as often as needed.
For simulations, audio formats can be developed for telephone conversations (conversations with Clients in Telesales) or video scenarios. These can be 2D (for a role play that takes place in an office) or 360° for role plays that take place in complex environments (triage rooms in the emergency departments of a hospital). We can also use deep fake video technology to create the client's avatar and the environment in which the interaction takes place.
The conversation with the person who is in training is carried out based on a predefined process, a decision tree and the recognition of key words that the human interlocutor must use.
The role play will be recorded, which means that the user can review it and understand how he put the knowledge into practice. After each role play, Pitchboy will give feedback to the user and keep the score obtained in the database. Thus, the development of a skill during several role-plays will be easily observed by both the user and the manager.
Another benefit of using the simulator is the fact that it will take place every time in the same way so that employees will be able to learn exactly the same essential routines within a process (selling, giving feedback, etc.).
Pitchboy can test knowledge through simple quizzes or develop role plays in which the user is guided during the interaction so that he continues to learn and practice at the same time. Finally, we can create simulations even in difficult conditions, where there is no safety net, (exactly like in a video game) so that the skills are so well developed that the subsequent interaction with a real customer seems to the employee very easy
In conclusion, AI technology can be used in the direction of augmenting human potential, being a support for human resources practitioners.
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