Looking for an LMS with AI? Here’s How to Choose One

Sep 4, 2024 | AI in Learning, Articles, Digital Transformation

Artificial intelligence (AI) has impacted the way everyone works. As organizations continue to assess their generative AI (GenAI) strategy, the Learning Management System (LMS) providers that serve them are rapidly evolving to integrate AI functionalities into their solutions. Finding an AI learning platform has gone to the top of many HR and L&D to-do lists, as businesses assess which genAI tools could help them scale and personalize workplace training.

What is an AI-Powered LMS?

Many LMS providers are integrating AI features into their platforms to enhance usability, convenience, and clarity for users. Choosing the right AI-powered LMS can greatly enhance the learning experience and reduce administrative strain for those using your LMS.

Unlike machine learning — which uses structured data like names and dates, organized in tabular formats to generate predictions based on historical analysis — genAI can read and learn from unstructured data like text, images, videos, and social media posts.

GenAI is being leveraged by learning platforms because it allows users to more easily generate new content such as questions, quizzes, course recommendations, or activities, from a wide array of assets. These benefits do come with some risks. Many generative AI bots train on public-facing Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, which means that the data users upload into their AI learning platform may not be kept private. Make sure to research whether the LMS you’re considering has clear and robust AI policies regarding privacy, security, and ethics.

Why Companies are Adopting AI Learning Platforms

If you’re reading this, you already know that AI tools and integrations are fast becoming a core feature for most Learning Management Systems (LMS) on the market today. By providing businesses the ability to personalize learning and development, streamline the administration of training, and gain data-driven learning insights, AI is poised to make a transformative impact on the way we develop, manage, and measure workplace learning programs. However, so many options available, selecting the right AI LMS may feel overwhelming.

This article will walk you through the essential features to look for, the key questions to ask, and the critical factors to consider to ensure you choose an AI-powered LMS that aligns with your organization’s unique needs and goals. There’s a lot of hype out there, which is why it’s important to understand what generative AI is,  how it can be used to power learning platforms, and what factors to consider before buying your LMS.

How is AI used in L&D?

Automation of L&D tasks isn’t the only use for an AI LMS. Business leaders are also turning to AI-powered training platforms to meet the unique needs of learners across the enterprise, enhance just-in-time training, make training more memorable, and help managers analyze learning trends. By leveraging natural language processing, machine learning algorithms, and predictive analytics, these systems can:

  • Personalize Learning Paths: AI can analyze a learner’s performance, job role, and career aspirations to recommend relevant courses and content, creating a customized learning journey for each employee.
  • Automate Administrative Tasks: From enrolling users and scheduling sessions to grading assessments and generating reports, AI can automate a wide range of administrative tasks, freeing up L&D professionals to focus on more strategic initiatives.
  • Provide Data-Driven Insights: AI-powered analytics can provide deep insights into learner engagement, knowledge gaps, and the overall effectiveness of training programs, enabling data-informed decision-making.
  • Enhance Content Creation and Curation: AI can assist in creating and curating training content, suggesting relevant materials from various sources, and even generating assessments and quizzes.

Key Features to Look for in an AI-Powered LMS

To take your organization’s learning and development initiatives to the next level, you may be considering your LMS options. If you want to find an LMS that leverages AI to achieve the results discussed above, you’ll have to consider which AI capabilities are most important to your organization when choosing an LMS.

Let’s explore what AI features to look for in an LMS….

  1. Personalized Learning Recommendations: The ability to provide personalized learning recommendations is a hallmark of a robust AI-powered LMS. Look for a system that can analyze user data to suggest relevant courses, articles, videos, and other learning resources. The Litmos AI Assistant takes natural language prompts and generates course summaries and relevant follow up materials.
  2. Automation features for streamlining admin tasks: AI LMS features may allow admins to automate L&D tasks such as course assignment and learner status tracking. An AI-powered learning platform may be able to analyze learner performance data to help admins identify knowledge gaps and adjust learning paths accordingly.
  3. Automated assessment and feedback: AI can automate the process of grading assessments, providing learners with instant feedback and identifying areas where they need improvement. Learners who receive personalized feedback can improve their performance and confidence, without escalating questions to busy managers. Litmos AI Video Assessments utilize machine learning to deliver individualized feedback on recorded pitches and presentations, rapidly and accurately, based on sentiment, key words, and delivery speed.
  4. AI-Powered Content Curation: An effective AI-powered LMS should be able to automatically curate content from various sources, including internal repositories and external libraries, and tag it with relevant keywords to make it easily discoverable. The Litmos AI Playlist generates personalized learning paths, based on learner prompts. This helps learners dive more deeply into a topic of their chose, by uncovering and customize their own collection of relevant training content.
  5. Contextual accuracy and content traceability – GenAI helps learners gain instant insights into key learnings, but if an AI learning tool is built on a public LLM, the output can be inaccurate and unsourced. Look for genAI learning platforms that can provide contextually accurate answers to natural language questions, and can cite their sources for easy reference.
  6. Data security and content control – Many platforms use public LLMs, such as ChatGPT, to train their AI models, and may include your organization’s content or data to do so. If your organization has privacy or security concerns about AI, it is crucial to choose an AI learning platform that does not share your organization’s content outside of its LMS tenant. Look for platforms that offer secure upload of course materials and comply with data protection regulations, such as GDPR, SOC II, and CCPA. To ensure that your organization has full control over the content that your AI learning platform uses, make sure your AI learning platform gives you the ability to remove or update content as needed, as well as the option to limit access to certain content for specific users.

A Word on Privacy and Security

As with any technology that handles sensitive employee data, privacy and security are paramount when choosing an AI-powered LMS. It’s crucial to select a vendor that is transparent about its AI practices and committed to protecting your data. At Litmos, we believe that AI should be used responsibly and ethically. Our AI Principles are built on a foundation of trust, transparency, and accountability. We are committed to:

  • Consider humans first
  • Design AI for all users
  • Develop the most secure AI platform
  • Uphold industry standards and compliance
  • Foster transparency

To uphold these commitments, Litmos has established core guiding principles for AI solution development and deployment. You can learn more about our responsible approach to AI privacy, security, and compliance here.

The Litmos Approach to AI in Learning

At Litmos, we are committed to harnessing the power of AI to create a more engaging, effective, and personalized learning experience for your employees. Our AI-powered LMS is designed to help you:

  • Boost Learner Engagement: By providing personalized learning recommendations and a user-friendly interface, we can help you create a learning environment that your employees will love.
  • Improve Training ROI: Our AI-powered content authoring and learner discovery tools improve efficiency for both administrators and learners, to maximize the impact of your training programs without incurring extra costs.
  • Streamline Administration: By automating administrative tasks, we can help you save time and resources, allowing you to focus on what matters most: creating a culture of continuous learning.

Comparing AI LMS Vendors

Before investing in a new system, it’s important to understand the advantages and disadvantages of the software you’re considering. Identifying your organization’s specific learning and business objectives will help you choose the best AI learning platform for your needs. Let’s say you’re a large global enterprise that’s built operations on several business applications; you’ll need an LMS with CRM and HRIS integrations, as well as APIs inte existing systemsgs to ensure that you can adopt your new learning platform seamlessly. If you’re a small organization without a Learning & Development department, you’ll likely want an LMS that has a diverse library of off-the-shelf courses, so that you can launch workplace learning without needing to build courses from scratch.

Need help comparing LMS options? Check out our free LMS comparison checklist:

Get an instant download of the LMS comparison checklist here. 

Your Next Step

Ready to see how an AI-powered LMS can transform your corporate training programs?

Click here to get your free, personalized demo of Litmos today!