How AI has been implemented at ACT

With the rise of AI generative tools such as ChatGPT there has been discussion as to what this could spell for work – and whether some jobs will even become redundant.

While the use of AI by regular members of the public has become more widespread in recent months (remember when everyone changed their social media picture to a Lensa avatar?)

The use of AI as a business tool has been around for a long time. We’re talking decades.

And ACT isn’t new to the AI game either. From coding to curriculum development, ACT has been utilising this technology for a while and it’s not something staff should be nervous about. Here are some examples of what it’s used for within the business:

We use ChatGPT for a number of things. For anyone new to the tool, ChatGPT stands for Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer and is a complex learning model able to create dialogue. It’s commonly used to write text like emails, essays or even code.

At ACT we have used ChatGPT in Systems Development. It is used to help the team solve problems such as working out why a particular piece of code doesn’t work, the best way to retrieve information for a report from the Vision database or creating documentation.

We also use it in interviews. The tool is used to create effective interview tasks and questions, based on key job role criteria. Using ChatGPT for a task such as this is simple, free and saves lots of time.

We also use it in Curriculum and Resource development to overcome ‘blank page’ at the beginning of any new resource development. The tool can be given learning outcomes and asked to create session ideas or improvements to existing resources.

As well as ChatGPT, we use an AI tool called CodePilot within Systems Development. It works a little differently to former, instead of asking it to create something for you, it works alongside a developer.

It suggests code for you by predicting what you will need next, just like working with another developer on your code.

Talking about the influence of AI in ACT, Richard Spear, said: “AI is an extremely powerful and exciting development that has the potential to add even more value to the services we deliver to learners.

“We are currently developing training to help staff (and learners) know how to use AI sensibly and ethically.

“At the end of the day, ACT is all about people and that will not change. AI cannot motivate, empathise, coach and encourage our learners or colleagues. I don’t see AI as a threat to our jobs, but something that can help us solve problems, produce resources, be even more efficient and therefore change even more lives through learning."