WILL Interactive
A History of Innovation
Since its inception in 1994, WILL has led the learning and development industry in innovation:
- The first teaching / training course to deploy video on a computer
- A U.S. Patent for our branching storyline teaching methodology
- Advanced analytics for customers a full decade before the rest of the training industry
- The first computer-based instantly-bilingual eLearning course
- The first intelligent remediation based on complex inputs
- Developed and Deployed gamification and serious games long before the phrases were invented
- First interactive video-based training hosted on a government website with full ADA standards
- First to mobile first
Current Research
What Are We Researching This Year?
WILL Interactive was founded on the cutting edge of technology and has stayed there. Current efforts include:
- Effective and responsible use of AI
- New branching storyline teaching methodologies
- New strategies for measuring effectiveness
- Techniques for improving the user experience of courseware
- Techniques for being best in class for customer service
- Technologies that support our customer experience
AI Responsibility
Effective And Responsible Use of AI
So much potential, so much hype… but what are the prudent uses of AI today for training development?
Since 1994, WILL has always been leaps ahead of the training and education industry in ways to improve the impact of education and training through eLearning.
We have been researching AI since before it was practical to use it. AI has exceptional potential in some areas to improve development efficiency and learning outcomes.
On the other hand, some applications create poor results and are morally problematic.
We choose to move thoughtfully and deliberately rather than chart a course we don’t completely believe in – so we are moving carefully into these areas.
AI Research
Artificial Instructors
Willow – she’s our next leap. By training an LLM with our research and source texts, we’ve developed and are refining artificial instructors who can guide users through a near-human facilitation of learning content. Features:
- Socratic, not didactic
- Utilizes well-researched learning impact of “teach back” techniques
- Taps into a user’s social learning domain
- Enforces learning standards
- A lean-forward learning technique
- Personality can be adjusted
- Voice to text and text to voice capable
- Instantly multi-lingual
- Exceptionally professional interactions
Yet… There are reasons you’ve not attended an AI music concert or watched an AI stand-up comedian. Can artificial instructors ever be accepted in the human community the way a student interacts with a real teacher?
We aspire to find out and are uniquely positioned to lead the industry again in this domain.
AI Research
Generative AI
Through experimentation with generative AI video, audio, still images, and music, we have found mixed results and are concerned about potentially publishing the derivative works of copyrighted materials.
Text to Voice: We are bottling our best voice over artists (with their consent and compensation) to create voice overs and narration in areas where the AI voice is consistent with quality.
Use: medium
Generative images/sounds derivative of our own work: We are discovering potential uses for generative video that uses our own video or still frames as a reference but the quality is low and hallucinations are frequent. Current 3D and green screen technologies are way ahead (for now).
Use: low
Generative images/sounds derivative of others’ work: We have discovered generative services using copyrighted materials unencumbered by any moral or legal obligation to fair use. This is generally found in generative music, video, and still images built on theft to create derivative works without permission.
Use: Only when generating abstract images
AI For ISD?
Should AI Create Training By Itself?
Just like food made quickly and cheaply can displace food that’s well-made, training and education are dealing with a similar identity crisis.
AI is uniquely positioned to create acceptable content1 wrapped in bad learning experiences2 incredibly cheaply3. That gives us pause.
- AI is heavily biased toward mediocracy and doesn’t provide what we think of as creativity. AI doesn’t do experimentation, it just exploits it. It’s not actually “generative,” it consumes knowledge to recombine it. Make vs recycle. Expression vs mimicry. Nirvana vs Milli Vanilli. You get the point.
- AI can’t provide the contextualization and experiential processes that make learning sticky. AI has never sat at a desk, it has never fit into a workplace culture, or felt the anxiety of a difficult decision with pros and cons on both sides. Furthermore, AI has not yet shown the ability on its own to create content in a form that engages users – the most important factor for learning outcomes.
- An LLM is configured to perform adaptive high-tech regurgitation cheaply. Will “garbage in, garbage out” become the commerce of education and training at the expense of our collective genius? Are we the last generation of experts – and human history will chart today as the zenith of human intelligence and innovation simply because AI became so much cheaper? When does real-adjacent become such a bargain that it becomes the default and what does that do to our society, our industry, and teaching itself?
We all have to find our identities in this new paradigm as both producers and consumers.
Teaching one another came so much earlier in human history, and has played a more vital role in our development, than the concept of money. WILL Interactive as a company will not chase margins at the expense of our impact on learning.
We’ll use AI as an invaluable assistant, utilizing the ways it enhances the value we bring to customers. But we will be the pilot as the best tech is still human.
