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36 dŚĞ ƵƚŚŽƌŝƚLJ │ October TRY THIS: T URN O NE T RAINING R ESOURCE I NTO F IVE Pull up an existing PowerPoint on customer interactions, safety, equipment operation, or another common training topic. Using an AI tool, ask it to: 1. Condense the material into a 15 minute refresher. 2. Develop three realistic workplace scenarios. 3. Create five knowledge check questions. 4. Build a supervisor discussion guide. 5. Produce content for a one page employee reference. Try an AI presentation tool such as Gamma to explore a refreshed presentation, or move appropriate content into training development software such as iSpring Suite to add quizzes, interactions, or role playing scenarios. Then complete the most important step: review everything. AI should accelerate the work of someone who understands the subject, employees, and organization. It should not decide what employees need to know or whether the resulting material is accurate. the technology fits into existing workflows. The key is to start with the problem, not the product. Identify repetitive training or communication work first. Then determine whether a paid tool with additional usage or features saves enough staff time or provides enough additional capability to justify the expense. However, it is important to remember security and safety protocols in all AI applications, especially when using free versions. Someone Still Needs to Know What Good Looks Like AI can produce polished information that is also confidently wrong. Technical information needs review. Regulatory information should be verified against authoritative sources. Training questions need to be checked. Scenarios should reflect the actual workplace. Organizations should also establish policies addressing appropriate AI use, including what employee, customer, operational, or other sensitive information may be entered into AI platforms, and which tools are approved for organizational use. We are all competing for employees and then trying to retain, develop, and protect them with limited staff and resources. Training, communication, onboarding, recognition, and knowledge transfer cannot simply become things we do when time permits. They are part of creating a workplace where people can work safely, develop professionally, and want to stay. AI will not build that culture. People will. Used intelligently, however, these tools can give those people considerably more capacity to do the work that builds it. S ďŽƵƚ ƚŚĞ ƵƚŚŽƌƐ Heath Edelman, PhD, is a professor for the Water and Environmental Technology program at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology and holds a doctoral degree in Workforce and Organizational Development from Old Dominion University. Bryon Killian, PE, is the Executive Vice President at Entech Engineering, leads the company’s AI technology and deployment initiatives, and holds a BS in Environmental Engineering from Penn State University and a certificate in Applied General AI for Digital Transformation from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The software platforms referenced in this article are provided as examples of currently available tools and do not constitute an endorsement of any product or vendor.