AI increasingly plays an essential role in the training and support of workers in the skilled … [+]
With AI’s meteoric rise over the past two years, there has been constant speculation about which jobs it will render obsolete. A report from PeopleScout showed that HR offices believe 50% of their workforce will need to be reskilled in the next five years as AI infiltrates nearly every industry. Even jobs such as computer programmers, which have historically caused job displacement, now appear likely to be displaced themselves. This fact has led to a surge of interest in the skilled trades. Since the trades involve working with everyday objects in the world rather than just manipulating data, they should be less threatened by AI disruption. However, upon closer inspection of the trades, including who is entering them, how they are being taught, and what the realities of on-the-job work are, it becomes clear that while AI may not pose a disruptive force, it is an enabling technology for skilled trades education and a vital component of what is being learned and how it is being learned.
AI And Skilled Trades In Formal Education
Universal Technical Institute Inc. operates 32 campuses focusing on education in transportation, skilled trades, energy, and healthcare. Todd Hitchcock, Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer, states, “While AI offers numerous advantages to the workforce, it won’t repair your car, roof, or plumbing. Humans remain the greatest asset in the skilled-collar industry. AI serves less as a disruption to the skilled-collar workforce and more as a facilitator of a dynamic partnership between humans and machines.”
Against this backdrop, he sees AI as essential to the success of his graduates. UTI integrates AI into its curriculum development to ensure that materials effectively explain and demonstrate lessons, and it is utilized in training to guarantee that graduates acquire the technical knowledge necessary for their careers.
He cites the automotive industry as an example, noting that AI is becoming integral to the sector as advanced driver assistance systems become standard components. Training technicians to maintain and repair these systems is essential. This involves developing expertise in how these AI-enabled systems operate at a systems level. Strong relationships with leading manufacturers ensure that technicians receive the precise knowledge they need, enabling workers to dive right in without requiring additional training after being hired.
The healthcare industry serves as another example. Medical imaging, patient monitoring, and clinical decision support equipment are becoming increasingly complex and often incorporate AI elements. Hospitals need personnel trained in the operation and support of this equipment. Manufacturers recognize this need and supply equipment to Concorde Career Colleges, UTI’s healthcare division, ensuring students learn about the tools they will use in the field. As General Electric has stated, “We would love for our employees to be ‘GE Ready’ upon hiring.” UTI estimates it has 250,000 alumni actively working and is attracting interest from manufacturers to launch more programs, leading to active competition for space on campus.
AI And Skilled Trades In Employer-Based Education
The demand for skilled tradespeople is projected to keep growing. The U.S. Labor Statistics estimates that by 2029, there will be 1.5 million new skilled trades jobs, but not enough workers to fill them. The need to replace retiring workers by attracting younger talent to careers in the trades is evident across the residential, commercial, industrial, and infrastructure construction sectors.
One company tackling this challenge is Interplay Learning, which offers innovative digital tools and immersive courseware through AI and 3D simulations. Doug Jones, CEO of Interplay Learning, pointed out that in 2016, the company shifted its focus from selling to schools to selling to employers, acknowledging that much of the training workers receive comes from their employers. Interplay also recognized that manufacturers have a vested interest in practical training.
Interplay has designed its training based on the essential components of an effective mentor, such as job relevance, procedural instruction, hands-on practice, corrective feedback, assessment, and extensive industry knowledge. Jones noted that AI has enhanced these aspects, particularly in simulations, where it can offer real-time feedback and guidance. He also highlighted the future potential of AI in developing holographic-like guides for training, especially in fields with deterministic and discrete tasks.
A key way AI is being used is by technicians who show their work by narrating their actions while performing tasks, which are then recorded and analyzed. Jones emphasized the potential of this system for improving efficiency and reducing errors but also noted that it was still in the testing phase and might take a year to perfect.
This has long been a significant challenge in education, particularly in digital education. While evaluating a specific answer to a question is straightforward, assessing something that requires a prolonged process is much more difficult. AI marks the first time that such possibilities have become available.
AI And Skilled Trades: Just-In-Time Education
Another company utilizing AI to support skilled trades and tackle knowledge gaps through just-in-time education is XOI Technologies. JP Cahalan, Senior Process Engineer, explained how XOI Technologies has been aggregating extensive datasets on equipment deployed in the field. Historically, one of the significant challenges in skilled trades education has been the absence of such datasets and the difficulty technicians encounter in locating the information they require when they need it–not surprising in a world dominated by paper, pencil, and PDFs.
XOI Technologies’s approach is to have contractors get a picture of the data plate on the hardware. Their system pulls knowledge of make and model from the plate, along with other relevant information like maintenance history, to shape the repair activity, including providing additional instructions as needed. The system guides the technician through a standard set of questions about their observations, the work completed, and any other details that may be important in a field report. This information flows back to the office, where generative AI can create the billing summary and field report.
Cahalan discusses the implications for training. “It used to be that tech had to be trained on specific equipment, and if they encountered something different, they would need to figure it out or give up. With these data sets and the knowledge that can be gained, the approach can adapt dynamically.”
The system can discern what the equipment and the technician are like, determining the training and support the technician will need to address the likely challenges at hand. As one technician said, “Your tool allows me to understand my blind spots.”
AI also enables an effortless transition from labor-intensive written descriptions to video with narration. This simplification helps document current actions to inform future needs. Similar to Interplay, the integration of video and AI facilitates efficient process capture and evaluation.
AI And The Future Of Skilled Trades Education
Hitchcock, Jones, and Cahalan agree that it will take a long time before AIs can execute the work of skilled trades. The need for manual dexterity and the ability to navigate physical space limit AI’s ability to impact the world directly. Where AI is proving to be essential is in the education and support of technicians, from the process of initial learning through the execution of work and to documenting what was done afterward. Due to the wide variability in physical objects, a significant amount of information flows in and out of skilled-trades-related work. Being able to capture this information, assess it, and feed it back into continued development is a role ideally suited for AI.
