Instructional Designer: Cultivate the strengths to lead in the AI era
In a matter of months, AI has reshaped learning and development. According to a recent report from the Association for Talent Development (ATD), 80% of instructional designers now use AI tools in their workflows to create course outlines, create storyboards, write learning objectives, create content, and produce voiceovers. This acceleration has created boundaries in the profession. Meanwhile, routine production tasks are being automated and devalued. Meanwhile, strategic thinking, creativity, and learning science expertise are more important than ever. The crucial question is simple. Will instructional designers become overseers of AI output, or will they use AI as an accelerator to improve their craft?
Two futures for instructional designers
AI has made two potential futures for this profession very clear.
Future 1: Instructional designers will be relegated to production supervisor positions.
In this scenario, AI performs most of the creative work and humans act as reviewers. Much of your day will be spent on tasks such as:
Check the AI-generated draft. Correct any inaccuracies. Adjusting formatting. Ensure compliance and copyright safety.
These tasks are growing for many instructional designers, as ATD reports that 96% of designers are concerned about copyright and intellectual property rights when using AI-generated content. This concern risks forcing instructional designers into a primarily supervisory role rather than a creative role.
Future 2: Instructional designers move into strategy and experience architecture
In a more promising future, AI will free instructional designers from repetitive tasks. They are increasingly spending their time on higher-value tasks such as:
Diagnose performance gaps. Map your learning journey. Applying learning science. Form blended or ecosystem-based learning experiences.
ATD’s findings show that most instructional designers feel that AI has improved their ability to design effective courses. With less time spent creating, designers can finally focus on the deeper strategic work that organizations are increasingly focusing on.
From content producers to strategic partners
AI currently generates narration, synthesizes text, and generates visual assets quickly, but it cannot understand people, their motivations, frustrations, or emotional or cognitive needs. The value of instructional designers lies in their work, which requires human judgment and insight.
Designers must identify real performance problems, not just stated problems, and translate them into meaningful learning strategies that support business objectives. This includes tasks such as:
Identify whether training is an appropriate intervention. Analyze learner needs and workplace culture. Interpret organizational nuances and context.
As this change continues, designers are evolving into consultants, analysts, facilitators, and architects of learning ecosystems. They guide small business conversations, extract tacit knowledge, and design experiences that fit the organization’s reality. AI can generate drafts, but it cannot generate meaning. The responsibility and opportunity lies with the designer.
AI as an accelerator, not an autopilot
Instructional designers who succeed in this situation treat AI not as a replacement, but as an extension of their thinking. This means understanding what AI can and cannot do.
What AI can do well
Create your first draft quickly. Summarize large documents. Generate multiple ideas quickly. Provides templates, outlines, and variants. Suggest interactions and quiz formats.
What AI can’t do well
Ensure pedagogical accuracy. Understand emotional nuances. A sensitive application of the science of learning. Infer organizational culture and constraints. Build relationships of trust with small and medium-sized businesses. Verify whether you should be training in the first place.
Well-designed prompts give better results, but even good output requires human refinement. Instructional designers who know how to challenge their AI, redirect it, and add meaning will outperform those who rely on generic prompts.
Double human skills that cannot be replaced by AI
If AI can generate learning content, humans must generate connection, clarity, and purpose. The most promising skills in instructional design are rooted in real-world experience: intuition, empathy, and the ability to interpret human behavior. Instructional designers bring the following value:
Create stories and scenarios that reflect the nuances of real-life workplaces. Understand learner motivations and emotional responses. Sense the friction, confusion, and resistance that arises during interactions between small businesses and stakeholders.
AI can approximate patterns, but it cannot feel them. And learners notice the difference. Nor can they observe hesitation in meetings, recognize disengagement in workshops, or identify cultural dynamics that limit performance. Instructional designers are also good at diagnosing whether training is appropriate. Many workplace problems are caused not by a lack of knowledge but by gaps in processes, unclear expectations, and lack of resources.
Human strengths extend to facilitating, building relationships, and coaching small businesses that struggle to articulate tacit knowledge. Extracting expertise requires trust, curiosity, and conversational intelligence, and these skills cannot be replicated by AI. As automation accelerates production tasks, these deep human capabilities will become not only valuable, but essential.
Design experiences, not just courses.
AI is great at content creation, but experience design requires integration and systems thinking. Instructional designers need to understand how learning unfolds over time, how to order information, and how to manage cognitive load. We will also consider ways to integrate:
Reinforcement and spaced practice. Live and digital touchpoints. Feedback and performance support.
Organizations no longer want isolated courses. They want a learning ecosystem that fosters measurable behavior change. Instructional designers who work at this level will continue to be essential.
Next steps for instructional designers
AI will not determine the future of instructional design. It depends on how the designer reacts. To remain relevant and future-proof, instructional designers must:
Moving from content creation to strategic problem solving. Strengthen your learning science expertise. Treat AI as a collaborator, not an autopilot. Develop advanced prompting and critical evaluation skills. Improves your ability to diagnose performance issues. Invest in storytelling, facilitation, and human-centered design.
Instructional designers who cultivate these strengths will not be diminished by AI. They will guide the next evolution of learning.
LEAi by LearnExperts
Based on decades of experience in building training programs, LearnExperts provides AI-enabled tools that allow clients to quickly and efficiently create learning and training content and exam questions to convey and develop skills.
