Metropolitan State University

AI Can Enhance Professional Development; But It Cannot Replace Skilled Facilitators

AI is now woven into nearly every workplace tool, process and conversation. For those of us who design and deliver professional development, this means we can’t simply say, “We don’t teach AI here.” The question is no longer whether to teach AI, but how to teach it responsibly, ethically and in ways that genuinely help people do their jobs better.

The Line Between “Assistance” and “Cheating” Keeps Moving

Years ago, when I taught high school language arts, I allowed students to have someone else edit their handwritten essays before turning them in. At first, it felt like I was giving them permission to cheat, but then I realized: every great author has an editor, often a whole team of them. Why shouldn’t a high school student have support, too?

Over time, technology shifted that line. Spell check arrived. Then grammar check. Then, tools like Grammarly began correcting writing automatically. None of us considers those tools cheating anymore; they’re simply part of how people write.

But if AI writes the entire paper? That still feels wrong. Yet a few years from now, will it seem strange to refuse AI assistance? The boundary between “help” and “replacement” is evolving and professional development leaders need to help learners understand where that boundary is today.

AI Can Accelerate Work, When People Know How to Use It

That shifting boundary shows up in the workplace, too. A friend of mine recently returned to a post retirement project and spent days researching background information. When she described the process, I said, “You know, you could have used AI for that.”

I showed her how to combine her expertise with a well crafted prompt, how to ask AI to organize her findings into a chart and how to use it to speed up the next phase of her work. She tried it. She compared the results to her manual research. She was amazed. The research was accurate, more complete and easier to use for her project work.

She immediately began teaching her colleagues how to use AI to be more efficient, too — becoming, in her words, “the hit of the office” in technology as a post retiree. That is value add AI: not replacing expertise but amplifying it.

The Ethical Issue We Don’t Talk About Enough: Access

As we talk about AI in learning, our ethical focus may need to shift from cheating to access. Many employers invest in AI training, but often only for employees with college degrees or certain job titles. That means the people who could benefit most from upskilling are the least likely to receive it.

If we want to talk about AI ethics in professional development, this is the question worth asking: Who gets access to the training that determines who advances?

AI literacy shouldn’t be a gatekeeper; it should be a foundation. As educators, we can advocate for equal access to that foundation and help workplaces understand that equitable training is part of ethical AI use.

Why Skilled Facilitators Still Matter

When I taught my friend how to use AI, I didn’t just explain the tool. I coached her through the uncertainty, reassured her when she felt uncertain and helped her connect the technology to her real work, her knowledge and her experience. That human process—listening, guiding, contextualizing—is the heart of facilitation.

AI can generate content, summarize information and streamline tasks. But it cannot:

• Create psychological safety

• Read a learner’s confusion

• Adapt to the moment

• Encourage someone who feels intimidated

• Connect learning to lived experience

Providing a safe space to ask questions and helping learners find a way through is what the best teachers do and what they have always done.

“AI is not the first piece of technology predicted to replace teachers and it will not be the last. Every time a new tool arrives, it becomes clear that what learners need most is not a machine; it’s a human being who can guide, reassure, challenge and inspire.”

AI Enhances Professional Development. Humans Make It Meaningful.

AI is a powerful tool and professional development programs should teach people how to use it ethically and effectively. But AI cannot replace subject matter experts whose life experience brings context, nuance and encouragement to the learning process. The future of professional development is not AI only or human only. It is AI supported, human led and grounded in thoughtful, accessible learning that helps every employee grow, not just the ones who already have the most advantages.

And as someone who has spent decades in classrooms and training rooms, I can say this with confidence: AI is not the first piece of technology predicted to replace teachers and it will not be the last. Every time a new tool arrives, it becomes clear that what learners need most is not a machine; it’s a human being who can guide, reassure, challenge and inspire. I plan to keep learning how to incorporate AI into teaching so I’m ready for whatever comes next, but I’m not preparing to be replaced: I’m preparing to lead.