The conversation around AI in Learning and Development is accelerating at a pace that feels both exciting and unsettling.
Every week brings a new tool, a new promise. Faster content creation, personalised learning pathways, automated admin, streamlined workflows. From an efficiency point of view, the benefits are hard to argue with.
And yet, I find myself conflicted.
Yes, AI has the potential to radically improve how we work in L&D. It can remove friction, free up time, and help us focus on higher-value tasks. But when we look beyond short-term gains, it’s worth asking a harder question.
What does the future of L&D actually look like if we don’t slow down and think critically?
Efficiency vs. purpose
There’s a growing risk that the creative processes behind digital learning development become undervalued or even redundant. Instructional design, storytelling, collaboration, iteration – these have traditionally been deeply human processes, shaped by empathy, experience, and understanding context.
If AI can generate courses, assessments, videos and feedback in seconds, what happens to the people whose skills lie in crafting meaningful learning experiences?
More uncomfortably, who exactly are we training for, if entire roles and industries begin to disappear?
The threat of mass job losses isn’t speculative anymore. It’s already happening, and L&D doesn’t sit outside that reality. If learning exists to support people at work, then the erosion of work itself has to be part of the conversation.
The one thing AI can’t replace
Setting aside the controversial (and slightly dystopian) rise of AI companions and simulated relationships, there is one thing AI still fundamentally cannot replicate: real human connection.
Connection isn’t just a “nice to have” in learning – it’s foundational.
People learn best when they feel seen, supported, challenged, and understood. They grow through conversation, collaboration, disagreement, shared problem-solving. No algorithm can replicate the nuance of human relationships, trust, or emotional intelligence in a meaningful way.
That human connection may well be our greatest remaining USP.
And yes, I see the irony
I should probably say this out loud. I work in digital learning. My job, in many ways, has been about removing the face-to-face teacher experience and translating it into something scalable, flexible, online.
I’ve helped replace classrooms with platforms, whiteboards with modules, live conversations with click-through content. So yes, I’m very aware of the irony.
But I think that’s exactly why this question matters so much.
Digital learning was never meant to replace human connection. It was meant to extend and enhance it. To reach people who couldn’t be in the room. To support teachers, not erase them. To make learning more accessible, not more isolated. Digital learning should create space for better conversations, not eliminate the need for them. Our ongoing partnership with live marketing trainers LockSmith demonstrates just how this can work in harmony!
I still believe deeply in digital learning. I wouldn’t be doing this work if I didn’t.
But somewhere along the way, the balance has started to shift. What began as support is quietly becoming substitution. And AI accelerates that shift at a speed we’ve never had time to properly sit with.
A growing loneliness problem
This matters even more when we look at the wider social context. According to Office for National Statistics research published last month, 33% of Britons aged 16-29 reported feeling lonely often, always, or some of the time – the highest of any age group. By comparison, only 17% of over-70s reported the same.
That statistic should stop us in our tracks.
If younger generations are entering a world of work that is increasingly automated, remote, and mediated by AI, we need to ask what kind of impact that has on their sense of belonging, identity, and purpose. L&D has an opportunity, and arguably a responsibility, to counteract this trend rather than contribute to it.
Rethinking how we work together
Perhaps this is the moment to question our increasing reliance on fully remote behaviours and whether it’s time to rebalance how we work. Remote work has undeniable benefits, but it can also unintentionally strip away opportunities for spontaneous collaboration, creative energy, and genuine relationship-building.
There’s something powerful about people being in a room together:
- Team collaboration
- Brainstorming without agendas
- Learning through observation
- Building trust over time
These moments don’t always show up in productivity metrics, but they matter deeply, especially in L&D, where learning is inherently social.
Recently, we advertised for a new member of our creative team. One of the biggest points of resistance we faced wasn’t the role itself – it was our request to work on site.
Remote working, for many people, no longer feels like a perk. It feels like a necessity.
And I get it. I really do. People are juggling childcare, caring responsibilities, long commutes, rising costs, and lives that are already stretched. Remote work often makes everything feel just that bit more manageable.
But here’s the thing – the proof really has been in the pudding.
Our new designer now works alongside us, side by side. And the difference has been tangible. We’re constantly creating together, testing ideas in real time, challenging each other, sharing quick feedback without booking meetings or sending messages into the void.
It’s fast. It’s collaborative. It’s human.
The working day is filled with conversation, laughter, problem-solving, and critical feedback — not just the polished kind, but the messy, half-formed thoughts that often lead to the best ideas. The result? Better output, stronger ideas, and a genuinely happy, supportive working environment.
It’s a world away from working solo, punctuated by the occasional Teams check-in.
And that experience has made me pause. Not because remote work is “bad” — but because we’ve perhaps been too quick to assume that digital-first always equals better. Especially in creative, collaborative spaces like L&D.
If we’re serious about protecting human connection in learning, we may need to be just as intentional about protecting it in how we work.
Using AI without losing control
None of this is an argument for rejecting AI outright. Used well, AI can be a powerful support, enhancing learning, removing admin burdens, and enabling better access to knowledge.
But support is the key word.
We need clear boundaries around where AI helps and where humans lead. Without those boundaries, we risk sleepwalking into a future where efficiency trumps empathy, speed replaces depth, and connection is treated as expendable.
This isn’t just about our own working lives. It’s about the world we’re shaping for our children and future learners. Once systems are embedded, they’re hard to undo.
A call for intentional L&D
The future of L&D shouldn’t be about how much we can automate – it should be about what we choose to protect.
- Human creativity
- Human connection
- Shared learning experiences
- Real, honest customer service
These are things AI can assist with, but never replace. If we lose sight of that, we risk building a learning ecosystem that is technically impressive but emotionally empty.
AI will be part of our future. The question is whether we remain fully part of it too.
This is the tension we live with at Eggu every day.
We build digital learning. We believe in it. And we also believe that learning works best when people feel connected to ideas, to each other, and to the work they’re doing.
AI can help us do better work. But it can’t replace curiosity, collaboration, or care. Those things still come from humans, working together, asking questions, and sometimes choosing the slower, messier path.
Digital learning isn’t going anywhere. The challenge and the opportunity is making sure it stays human.
If you’re heading into 2026 with questions about your digital learning – what to keep, what to change, and what to protect – let’s talk. Because better learning doesn’t always start with new tools.
