Suit-Up

Mark Gash crafts an AI battle suit to meet the needs of the modern day e-learning hero.

I’ve never been one of those people who says, “That’s not my job.” When I was a kid, I couldn’t make up my mind as to whether it would be cooler to write comic books or draw comic books, so I used to practice doing both.

This multi-skill attitude continued at university too - I got my degree in Electronic Imaging & Media Communications, which was a catch-all course for what was known back in the late 90s (f@ck me, I’m old…) as “New Media”. So I learnt Photoshop, Macromedia Director, Dreamweaver, Pagemaker, Flash, Photography, and Animation, graduating with an ambition, and poorly-planned business case, to create cartoons.

That dream didn’t quite play out but I managed to get onto the graduate stream at The Press Association, where I wrote TV listings, movie reviews and Horoscopes, alongside editing images. I never said “No” to learning a new skill, and consequently, I’ve carved out a career as a Jack-of-all-tradesmaster-of-none. If I wasn’t a 45 year old father with a dad bod, I’d be Batman, with a utility belt bursting with creative tricks, or Iron Man, with a lab of hermetically sealed mech-suits engineered for every battle with a pushy client who can’t make up their mind.

I love getting to grips with new tech, and I feel that as a designer in edtech, holding my own against the onslaught of AI, it’s more important than ever to keep adding to my creative arsenal. So when a client hits me with a problem, I don’t panic and say, “That’s not my job” - I either break out one of my existing battle suits, or like Tony Stark in a cave, with a box of scraps, I engineer a new one.

If you’re a freelancer, a lone instructional designer, or part of a small development team, learning new skills is essential to your survival. Even if you’re embedded in a larger organisation, where your superpower is blending in and hiding in the shadows to avoid being called to the frontline of an epic cinematic customer confrontation, be mindful of the fact that the scourge of AI is waiting to shine a spotlight on those who are still rocking their MK1 mech suit and refusing to upgrade to flight capabilities and rocket launchers.

Despite what the client brief or tender document specifies, the real objective is never just “build an online course”; it’s to be the complete solution. I can’t be the only one whose own personal head-canon job description is “Deliver the impossible, with no budget, yesterday” but with the dizzying pace of AI innovation, which seems hell-bent on devauling 25 years’ worth of skills, the need for a versatile suit (or suits) of skills has become even more critical.

Weapons-ready

The reality for freelancers and smaller e-learning outfits is you can no longer afford to specialise in just one aspect when competing with larger agencies. Clients often prefer a single point of contact, someone who can shepherd their vision from initial concept to final deployment and beyond. This means constantly innovating and integrating new weapons and armour into your professional suit:

Development Prowess: This is your core armour – not just authoring tools, but multimedia creation (video, audio, graphics), animation, accessibility, and the knowledge to integrate your creations with various Learning Management System (LMS) and websites.

Sales & Marketing Acumen: Your propulsion system and targeting sensors – identifying leads, crafting compelling proposals, networking, managing professional presence, and articulating value.

Consultancy & Strategy: Your tactical analysis unit – understanding client needs, advising on learning objectives, recommending appropriate solutions, and providing strategic direction.

Project Management & Admin: Your internal operating system – keeping projects on track, managing budgets, invoicing, and handling contracts.

Support & Maintenance: Your repair protocols – being responsive to queries, troubleshooting technical glitches, and providing post-launch assistance.

Each of these components demands distinct skills and a significant time investment, requiring you to constantly evolve your e-learning hero battle armour.

Know your enemy

The advent of AI has, in many ways, intensified this demand for a versatile “Iron Man suit.”

Increased Competition & Expectations: AI tools allow for faster content generation and more sophisticated outputs, raising the bar for what clients expect. If a large agency can churn out personalised content or complex simulations with AI assistance, smaller players need to integrate similar “upgrades” to keep pace.

Information Overload: The sheer volume of new AI tools and their rapid evolution means constant learning and evaluation – another skill to master on top of everything else, akin to learning a new suit’s complex controls.

The “Can’t AI Just Do That?” Question: Clients, aware of AI’s capabilities, might increasingly challenge the scope or cost of human-led tasks, pushing freelancers to justify their value in an AI-augmented world.

However, viewing AI purely as a threat misses its immense potential to empower. Just as Tony Stark uses AI to enhance his suits, you can use it to enhance yours.

Team-up

Here’s where AI transitions from a potential enemy to the ultimate “upgrade module” for the solo practitioner or small team. AI isn’t here to replace the nuanced human elements of instructional design, creativity, or client relationships, but to augment and streamline the more repetitive, time-consuming, or skill-intensive tasks.

Tony Stark’s JARVIS AI is the advanced technology that allows Iron Man to perform feats that would be impossible without his suit, plotting course trajectories, arming weapons, running life support, and making split-second decisions when the unexpected happens. Here are the killer AI features you should look to incorporate into your own suit :

Rapid Prototyping Module: Content Generation & Curation

Auto Assembly - Drafting Scripts & Storyboards: Use large language models (LLMs) to quickly generate initial drafts for video scripts, module introductions, quiz questions, and scenario-based learning prompts. AI can condense lengthy source material into digestible chunks or rephrase complex topics for different learning levels, saving valuable research and writing time.

Design Studio - Visual Asset Creation: AI image generators can rapidly create custom visuals, icons, and even character designs, eliminating the need for expensive stock photos or specialist graphic designers for every project.

Voice Modulator - Narration & Presentation: AI voice synthesis can produce high-quality narration in various accents and tones, making multilingual course delivery or quick audio updates far more feasible without hiring voice actors for every iteration.

Targeting & Engagement System: Marketing & Sales Automation

Comms Array - Generating Marketing Copy: AI can assist in writing compelling website copy, social media posts, email newsletters, and even proposal introductions.

Target Lock - Personalised Outreach: AI can help segment potential clients and suggest personalised messaging, making your outreach more effective and less time-consuming.

Sensor Suite - Market Research & Trend Analysis: AI-powered tools can quickly sift through data to identify emerging e-learning trends, competitor activities, and client pain points, informing your service offerings.

Automated Efficiency Unit: Admin & Project Management

Logistics - Automated Scheduling & Communication: AI-powered tools can assist with scheduling meetings, sending reminders, and even drafting routine client communications.

Performance HUD - Data Analysis: Quickly analyse learner performance data to identify trends, pain points, and areas for course improvement.

Legal Database - Contract Drafting & Review (with human oversight): AI can help generate templates for common legal documents or highlight key clauses, reducing legal costs and time.

You are the power

I’ve banged on about this for a while now but it’s crucial to reiterate that AI is a tool, not a replacement. Without Tony Stark inside the armour, the Iron Man suit is just a fancy pile of tech - the same applies to your new AI-powered offering. The “human element” – empathy, creativity, critical thinking, strategic vision, and genuine client relationship building –remains paramount. AI can handle the heavy lifting of repetitive tasks, but you need to focus on:

Emotional Interface - Client Understanding: Build rapport to grasp the needs and culture of clients.

Creative Core - Innovative Instructional Design: Create experiences that connect with learners.

Safeguards - Quality Assurance & Ethical Oversight: Ensure AI-generated content is accurate, unbiased, and aligns with learning objectives to limit damage and protect your reputation.

Solutions RAM - Problem-Solving & Adaptability: Be prepared to handle surprise challenges and think up solutions on the fly.

Take flight

As someone who has worked in online content for 25 years, it feels like we’ve come full circle. Back in the early 2000s, one person could be a “Web Designer”, creating the backend, frontend, visuals, copy and dealing with the SEO. Then, as the web development and e-learning industries grew, companies hired specialists for UX, coding, servers, graphics, content, etc. But as budgets have shrunk, we now seem to be returning to a place where a lone in-house employee, or freelancer, is expected to spin the plates of a whole development and delivery team.

If this is you, AI offers the opportunity to meet these expanding expectations head-on. By experimenting with and adopting AI tools into your utility belt – from ideation and development to sales and support – you can perform well beyond your previous capacity. You can offer a comprehensive, high-quality service that rivals larger agencies, all while maintaining the agility, personal touch, and cost-effectiveness that clients often crave.

I can’t promise that AI will see you doing less work or earning more money, but by forging a more capable, adaptable “Iron Man suit”, you can at least fight the good fight and hold your own alongside the big league heroes.

E-Learning Devs…. Assemble!

Mark Gash Writer. Designer. AI Image Prompter. Connect with him here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markgash/