How Articulate AI Safeguards Your Data
Artificial intelligence (AI) is gaining a lot of hype, and for good reason! This technology has the potential to streamline work and inspire human creativity. But new advancements also bring new hesitations. And in AI’s case, data privacy is chief among them—with 63% of consumers fearing how AI could misuse their data and more than 1 in 4 organizations banning generative AI over security concerns. At the same time, AI is a critical asset in a creator’s tool belt. Companies waiting to adopt AI risk lagging behind. So, what’s the solution? At Articulate, we’re committed to giving you the innovative AI features you need with security safeguards you can trust. Let’s dive into how we’re making that happen. Compliance Standards We’re excited about our AI-powered product enhancements—and that includes how we’re keeping customer information safe and confidential. For starters, this means complying with relevant laws and industry standards. Here are a few highlights: Articulate complies with international data protection protocols, including CCPA, GDPR, SOC 2, ISO 27001, and ISO 27701. Committed to upholding these standards, we’re updating our SOC2 and ISO reports this year to include AI and monitoring the evolving laws applicable to Articulate AI. Articulate 360 is FedRAMP® authorized—and that’s not changing with AI. We’re including AI in our 2024 FedRAMP® Audit. If you’re unfamiliar with FedRAMP® authorization, it means that Articulate apps are among the select few to meet strict cloud security requirements determined by the U.S. federal government. As regulations evolve, so will we! We’re deeply committed to our security and privacy standards and will continually review and update our practices to align with the changing landscape. Robust Transmission and Encryption Protocols As we integrate AI into our platform, we’ll continue protecting customer security with the most advanced encryption technology publicly available. How do we do that? We encrypt your data via secured connections with Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.2 or 1.3 encryption. Carefully Vetted AI Partners We’ve carefully selected our AI partners, including ElevenLabs and OpenAI. What’s more, we have contractual obligations with these partners to uphold their and our commitment to your privacy and security. Zero Data Retention Policy If you’re like 80% of consumers, you might be concerned about how your online data is being used. With Articulate AI, rest assured: After Articulate AI generates your content, any data used in the process is immediately deleted from the servers of our AI subprocessors. To make sure you don’t lose your work, Articulate still retains your data as long as your subscription is active, but we never use your information to train our AI models. We Give You Control Using Articulate AI is 100% optional. You can still create content from scratch or from one of our many templates. If you don’t want anyone on your team using Articulate AI, your admins can also turn this feature off in the account management dashboard. Wrap-Up Technology evolves, but Articulate’s commitment to privacy and security remains the same. We understand how important data protection is to you, and we’re committed to maintaining your trust. Our AI-enhanced offerings are safe and secure—allowing you to stay on the ball with AI innovations while prioritizing the protection of your data. Interested in learning more about our approach to security and data protection? You can reach us at security@articulate.com for general security-related questions and privacy@articulate.com for privacy notice and data management questions. Also, be sure to check out these resources for extra intel: Read how to Build Compelling Courses Up to 9x Faster with Articulate’s AI Assistant Dive into AI Security and Privacy at Articulate Review our Articulate 360 Security Policy Learn more about Global Data Security and Privacy at Articulate Explore our Privacy Notice Visit our Trust Center Check out Articulate’s Terms of Service Review Articulate’s Data Processing Agreement You can stay in the loop by subscribing to our newsletter and finding us on LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter). Want to try out our apps but don’t have an Articulate 360 subscription? Start a free 30-day trial today. And if you have any questions, please share them in the comments.Why AI Could Turbocharge L&D Professionals
Amid all the excitement surrounding artificial intelligence (AI), there’s one glaring fear: “Is AI going to replace me?” It’s a reasonable concern. After all, generative AI can work a whole lot faster than we mere mortals. But here’s the deal: AI is a tool. And a tool is only as good as the person who wields it. At Articulate, we think of AI as an accelerator of human capability, not a replacer of human ingenuity. Let’s unpack why AI can’t do everything alone and how—when used effectively—it doesn’t take away potential but unlocks it. AI Has Limitations On the surface, AI-generated content truly feels like it could’ve been written by a human. But mimicking a human isn’t the same as being a human, and that makes all the difference. Courses built solely with AI are prone to the following hurdles: Inaccuracies. AI is a people-pleaser. If it can’t give you a correct answer, it will still produce a reasonable “something”—but that something might be riddled with half-truths or outright “hallucinations.” Without a human validating output, AI might deliver wholly fabricated content. Biases. Generative AI was trained on the internet, making it highly susceptible to biases. Take away ethical human input and guidance, and AI may reinforce stereotypes, spread misinformation, and deliver inequitable training with unapologetic conviction. Ineffectiveness. AI can’t independently create complex, engaging learning experiences like the L&D pros. It can work quickly, but only a human course creator knows the nuance that goes into helping learners wrap their heads around tough topics, develop complex skills, and work through real-world practice scenarios. AI Requires Guidance AI’s limitations remind us that it can’t work alone. The sidekick is only as good as the hero. And AI is only as good as the e-learning heroes who use it. High-quality training requires humans in the driver’s seat. If you don’t have professionals consulting with stakeholders, discerning learning needs, setting directions, iterating with AI, and validating outputs, you end up with training that misses the mark. What Can AI Do? So, if AI isn’t replacing L&D professionals, what is it doing? If you’re a course creator, think of AI as another tool in your kit—and a mighty valuable one at that. Use AI mindfully, and you can: Collate information quickly. Have several dense documents to sift through? Consider using AI to pull and synthesize the information—kick-starting your course-creation process. Get a first draft. Debating how to start a lesson or course? AI solves the notorious “blank page” problem by giving you a first draft. Then all you have to do is fine-tune it. Brainstorm. Need to toss some ideas around? Your AI helper is an excellent creative thought partner. For example, you might use AI to think through course outlines, come up with industry-relevant examples, and surface themes within your work. Modify and personalize your work. Want to change direction or adapt your training for a different audience? No problem! AI can switch up your tone or writing style in a flash. Accelerate monotonous tasks. Have a lot on your plate? You might free up your day by using AI to speed through time-consuming, repetitive work. For example, you could ask AI to generate a summary, knowledge check, or full-course quiz based on your content. Well-Guided AI Unlocks L&D Superpowers Ultimately, with course creators at the wheel, an AI sidekick helps course creators do more, work smarter, and achieve their goals faster. The result? Instead of replacing L&D pros, AI gives them superpowers. Learning teams who leverage AI have more time, freedom, and mental space to use their specialized expertise, dig deeper, innovate, and home in on the creative side of course creation and design. Wrap Up The scary robot takeover isn’t happening anytime soon. AI is an invaluable asset. But it only works if we keep humans at the center. As Articulate’s own Chief Technology Officer Kerry Munz puts it, “AI gives you time; it lets you go deeper. But it’s your magic that helps people grow.” For more information about AI, check out these helpful resources: Build Compelling Courses Up to 9x Faster with Articulate’s AI Assistant 4 AI Basics Every E-Learning Creator Needs to Know in 2024 3 Ways AI Transforms Workforce Skill-Building Is Your Organization Ready for AI? How Articulate AI Safeguards Your Data You can stay in the loop by subscribing to our newsletter and finding us on LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter). Want to try out our apps but don’t have an Articulate 360 subscription? Start a free 30-day trial today. And if you have any questions, please share them in the comments.How E-Learning Experts Are Shaping Articulate AI
What makes Articulate AI unique? It all started with a singular focus: Develop a tool, not a toy. Sure, AI is entertaining. But we recognize that what you really need as e-learning pros is functionality—something that inspires, elevates, and enables human creators to get things done. So, how do we get there? Our developers called in the experts, partnering with e-learning pros every step of the way. We’re working on a suite of features built with course creators like you, for you. Let’s pull back that creation curtain and unveil how the scene is unfolding. Consulting L&D Pros at Every Stage Articulate’s talented engineers, product developers, and designers aren’t working in a vacuum. From planning through creation, testing, modifying, and scaling, we’re developing Articulate AI iteratively with ongoing input and feedback from people who live and breathe e-learning. It started with consulting experts both inside and outside Articulate. As production began, the collaborative efforts only skyrocketed. Business as usual for us means regular brainstorming sessions, routine updates, rapid-fire discussions, shared docs, testing, working meetings, and feedback, feedback, feedback. Shaping the AI Features and Interface Thanks to this collaboration, e-learning experts are helping define what features Articulate is prioritizing and how the AI interface will work. More specifically, the L&D pros are: Molding the workflow. They share their typical workstreams and outputs with developers—ensuring that Articulate AI will work for you, not against you. Influencing features. L&D pros brainstorm AI’s limitations and values and present their findings, pitching ideas and rating features by the potential impact on Rise 360 work. Refining outputs. They help shape ideal AI outputs, influencing decisions around what questions AI should ask and when, how many outputs AI should generate, and how frequently you should touch base with AI before getting your final results. Shaping the user interface. E-learning creators are further helping our product designers customize how AI shows up to bring you a seamless and easy-to-understand authoring experience. Setting the Benchmark Articulate’s e-learning experts are working tirelessly throughout testing to help ensure you get the best possible AI outputs. Here’s how these subject matter experts are making a difference: Improving back-end prompt instructions. Leveraging e-learning best practices, they’re helping craft and test back-end prompt instructions to improve output quality. Developing the standard. Our e-learning experts are also developing weighted criteria for judging the AI outputs against instructional design frameworks—setting the benchmark for what “good” looks like. Testing the features. Who better to judge AI than those who use Articulate’s tools every day? With each update, the pros test the features, assessing what works and what doesn’t, and share their findings with developers. Our Goal? Tailored AI That Delivers Results We truly believe our deep collaborative efforts will pay off. When we release Articulate AI it’ll be specialized to meet your needs as an e-learning creator. Rather than offering a one-click magic button with subpar results, Articulate AI will complement your workflow. The built-in processes will keep humans at the center, incorporating instructional design best practices and enabling you to iterate every step of the way. Wrap-Up Thanks to direct, ongoing input from e-learning experts, Articulate AI will empower you to do more. Magic happens when great minds come together—and a whole lot of minds are melding to create Articulate AI. We can’t wait to share that magic with you! Ready for more? For more details about these upcoming features, check out the following resources: Build Compelling Courses Up to 9x Faster with Articulate’s AI Assistant 4 AI Basics Every E-Learning Creator Needs to Know in 2024 How Articulate AI Safeguards Your Data Why AI Could Turbocharge L&D Professionals Before you take off, remember to subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest product updates, e-learning examples, and expert advice directly in your inbox. You can also find us on LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter). Want to try out our apps but don’t have an Articulate 360 subscription? Start a free 30-day trial today. And if you have any questions, please share them in the comments.5 Ways to Get the Most Value From AI Tools
There’s lots of buzz in the e-learning world about generative AI's potential to speed up our workflows and extend our abilities to create exciting new projects. And even though we’re only in the early days of this technology, people are already finding ways it can help them—including summarizing content, refining written text, brainstorming ideas, speeding up development processes, writing code, and taking tedious tasks off their plates. But there’s no one-size-fits-all solution for everyone’s needs. We don’t all work the same way, create the same content, have the same pain points, or even want the same kinds of assistance. So, to get the most value from any AI tool or feature, you’ll want to go beyond the general ways it can help anyone and dig into the specific ways it can help you. As you’re checking out an AI tool or feature, try these five techniques to zero in on how you personally can get the most from it. 1. Dig into how your AI tool works As with any technology, every AI tool or feature has its own strengths—and the more you play to them, the better results you’ll get. So start your journey by investigating what the particular AI tool you’re using is especially good at and how you can get the best results from it. That way, you can set your own expectations around when and how it makes the most sense to include it in your workflow. Official documentation and tutorials are a helpful place to begin. They’ll outline what the tool does and the standard processes for using it. But also keep an eye out for what other users are saying. They can help you separate hype from reality. And they’ll likely have advice on strategic ways to weave the tool into your processes or how to push the boundaries of what it can do. 2. Build in time for experimentation There’s rarely just one “best” way to use an AI tool. Many are flexible, allowing them to play a part in your work in a variety of ways. That flexibility gives these tools more ways to cater to your needs. But it also means that it might take some experimentation to determine how—or if—they fit into different design and development steps. That’s why you can get more from your AI tools and features by simply setting aside time to play with them before you start putting them to work. For instance, try exploring questions like: how do different AI features contribute to the kinds of learning experiences you create? which prompt phrasing gets you the best results in the shortest amount of time? Does changing the order in which you use different AI features together change the results you get? how much do you enjoy using each feature? This up-front play may slow down your productivity in the short run. But in the long run, it’s one of the best ways to refine how each tool fits into your world and discover how to use it skillfully. 3. Look for the overlap between AI strengths and tasks you want off your plate When it comes to getting real value from AI, you don’t just want it to take on any task it’s good at. You want AI to take on the tasks you enjoy the least. Maybe your subject matter experts tend to give you dense info dumps of content. Having AI sift through it all and summarize the main points could make the experience less draining. Perhaps you need to liven up some old courses but don’t love rewriting boring copy. Getting AI to take the first crack at adjusting the copy’s tone could make the rewriting process less tedious. Or maybe you’re tired of refilming the same training video because a few company terms keep changing. By switching to an AI presenter, those changes would take a few minutes at your computer instead of hours of reshooting and editing. If you don’t love doing something and AI can competently take on some of the work for you, you’ll appreciate it all the more. And the flip side applies as well. Is there a task AI is good at that you honestly enjoy? Then don’t feel pressured to give it up. You’re not going to find AI tools valuable if they’re taking away the work that fuels you. Instead, use them to free up time so you can give your most-enjoyed tasks your full attention. 4. Know how to check AI’s work AI tools can be helpful. But, just like any resource or person, they’re not perfect. To get the best results, you need to know where this technology can make mistakes so it’s easier to find and correct them. The first area to keep an eye on is information accuracy. AI-generated content is often accurate. But because AI tools don’t actually understand the material they’ve been trained on and instead work by recognizing patterns, mistakes can creep in. Referred to as hallucination, these tools can accidentally invent facts or content. To catch these occasional errors, build in a content review pass into your development plan—something you or a subject matter expert may already be doing. It’s also helpful to include a bias check in that review process. Since AI tools are typically trained on massive amounts of information, biases around gender, race, age, religion, and more can sometimes sneak into the data set. Because of that, it’s important to review ai-generated or altered work to search for these specific issues—just like you might do today with stock photos or external research. Need ideas on what to look for? Want to consider how to avoid bias in both AI and human-generated content? Check out this article on four ways to make courses more inclusive. 5. Stay on top of how this technology evolves AI tools are evolving fast. So what’s true about their capabilities today might only be part of the picture tomorrow. If you’re excited about the possibilities, this is great news. But it also means that to get the full value from the AI tools you’re using now, you’ll want to actively pursue product updates and news so you don’t miss out on valuable new features. And as you’re planning for future projects, knowing what features and tools will be on the market soon can help you make informed purchasing decisions now. Wrap-up AI tools have a lot to offer our industry. But when it comes to deciding which aspects of them are the most useful, there’s no universal right answer. Instead, it often varies from person to person, company to company, and sometimes even project to project. That’s why the five approaches in this article can be so handy. They’ll help you explore your AI options and determine where they offer the most value for you and your work. Interested in the ways AI and eLearning can intersect? Check out these articles: 4 AI Basics Every E-Learning Creator Needs To Know in 2024 Why AI Could Turbocharge L&D Professionals How E-Learning Experts Shaped Articulate AI Want even more insights on the technologies and approaches that can help you create effective e-learning? Subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest e-learning inspiration and insights directly in your inbox. You can also find us on LinkedIn and X. And if you have questions, please share them in the comments.
