Welcome to our newsletter. This week, Lead Instructional Designer Susan Wilcox covers effectively using AI-generated video in e-learning. As small L&D departments gain access to video capabilities through generative AI, Susan offers guidance on when and how to use presenter videos for maximum impact.
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After decades of envying large L&D operations with budgets substantial enough to pay for video production, it’s hard to contain the glee of a small department that finally has access to video for their e-learning, thanks to generative AI.
Like a teenager with their first driver’s license, the temptation is to go on a joy ride, careening through the possibilities and leaving caution in the winds of enthusiasm.
Let’s put the brakes on for a moment. If you’ve never worked much with video before, there are some things to consider — like,
“Is video effective for the use I am planning?”
This is a serious question. It is all too easy to suppose that video, with its stimulating visual and audio elements, will inevitably be more engaging than a screen of text. But the fact is that video does some things very effectively, and others not so much. Very often, we ask video to do the wrong thing, and then are disappointed with the results.
Video is a broad subject, with many different styles and levels of production. To simplify, let’s focus on the happy development of AI generated avatars acting as presenters, as this is where many small L&D operations are finally being able to jump on the video bandwagon. What can we reasonably expect these ‘presenter videos’ to deliver for us?
What’s great!
Presenter videos are great for:
Introducing a topic or idea
Promoting enthusiasm and motivation
Creating a first-person connection
Recapping sections during a segue
Summarizing with a shot of cheerleading
What makes the ‘great’ uses effective?
The above uses work well because they take advantage of one of video’s greatest strengths: creating emotional impact. Video is an intimate one-on-one medium, even when watched in a group setting. It feels up close and personal. That gives it the power to move emotions. If you’ve ever cried at a movie in a crowded theater, you’ve had this exact experience.
The emotional impact inherent in video can also be used to help people learn. A realistic and enthusiastic presenter can create an atmosphere of excitement and importance about a subject, piquing the viewer’s curiosity and increasing their openness to the learning. An empathetic face referring to the learner’s situation can make them understood, creating credibility and a connection that will carry through the rest of the course. It sets the tone for what is to come.
This works even when the viewer realizes the speaker is digital, provided the AI-generated presenter isn’t distractingly, well, digital, and the script is well-written and personal.
As of this writing, the range of emotions and ‘camera angles’ for AI avatars are too limited to be useful for providing the same personable touch in scenarios and simulations but give them a bit of time. In the meantime, we can get creative about the use of those forward-facing avatars. At Strategy to Revenue, we’ve used them to simulate recorded webinars where avatars relay information and gain buy-in through “first person” experiences that are surprisingly warm and credible.
Think creatively!
On the other hand…
Presenter videos are not so great at:
Explaining complex topics
An avatar delivering complex information with no emotional content is more likely to put the viewer to sleep rather than stimulate thinking and memory-making. Think of the worst college professor you’ve ever had (we’ve all had them) droning on and on in front of a classroom. You know, the one where you needed to stop at the coffee bar before class to make sure you stayed awake. A droning avatar has much the same impact. Why go there?
At the same time, we know from experience that ‘talking heads’, as they are sometimes called, can deliver a depth of information—think ‘news presenter’ or ‘commercial spokesperson’. Why does that work when the droning professor model does not?
The answer is in what else appears on the screen with them. Both news stories and adverts contain an abundance of supporting graphics, animations, text and video clips. To use an avatar to explain a complex topic, you would need to provide the same visual support. There are also best practices for this that make the difference between great and not-so-great; we’ll cover those in a future article in this series.
In summary…
Before you put an avatar on screen saying what your learners used to read, ask yourself: “Why am I doing this?”
If the answer is: “to spark things up and make my e-learning more interesting,” maybe pause a bit and give it a rethink. What do you really want to accomplish? Can an avatar deliver that? If so, what is the best setting and approach? And how will you write it to take advantage of the avatar’s ability to deliver emotional impact?
At Strategy to Revenue, our design and development team have a solid background in media writing, design and production as well as a variety of generative AI and e-learning development tools. We begin with established instructional design principles and add AI generated video where it will be most compelling in accomplishing learning objectives. The result is e-learning that is engaging, effective, and surprisingly budget friendly.
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