LinkedIn Learning users will soon have access to an AI coach, sharing advice backed by lessons from the platform’s thousands of human expert instructors.
The business education platform has traditionally focused on video instruction, with experts offering lessons on everything from cultivating business relationships to understanding JavaScript. Its new AI-powered system will let users ask for advice on particular business questions, starting with leadership and management topics, and will give responses tailored to their particular job and situation, based on insights from the video library.
“We know your current role—we know the skills you follow [on LinkedIn],” says Hari Srinivasan, head of product at LinkedIn Talent Solutions. “Because we know a lot about you, we can start personalizing this as you go.”
That, he says, makes the answers often more useful than responses from a search engine or a general-purpose AI chat tool like ChatGPT.
Like a human business coach, the AI will often ask questions as it goes, encouraging users to discuss challenges they’re facing and similar experiences they and colleagues have had in the past. “We went and understood how instructors and coaches would do this today,” says Srinivasan.
In addition to giving quick recommendations, the bot will recommend LinkedIn Learning videos that relate to the topic at hand. Srinivasan says he doesn’t anticipate it will replace the service’s video training. If anything, it’s likely to drive more traffic to the recorded lessons, he says, as it makes recommendations, and users may turn to the AI for additional information while studying traditional LinkedIn Learning classes.
It’s a similar approach to those taken by other learning-focused organizations that have rolled out AI assistants, from Khan Academy to Duolingo. But the new bot may help reach users who wouldn’t otherwise think to watch an instructional video. Srinivasan says that in early tests, the number of people in senior roles actively giving feedback is higher than other learning tools, which he attributes to the ease and speed of use. That is, even busy executives can quickly pose a question to the virtual coach in between meetings.
Srinivasan says he generally keeps a browser tab open with the AI coach, where it’s ready to answer any questions he might have about an upcoming meeting or workplace interaction.
And while the majority of LinkedIn Learning users access the platform through an employer-paid subscription, Srinivasan emphasizes that the system will maintain users’ privacy, so neither LinkedIn employees nor coworkers will be monitoring the kinds of questions users ask.
The company plans to roll the new feature out to customers with LinkedIn Learning Hub plans throughout the year at no additional charge.
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