Can an AI assistant help train new staff?
Yes, for everyday how-to questions. An internal AI assistant that answers only from your own procedures and policies can tell a new hire where things are, how a routine task goes and what is on a checklist, so you may be interrupted less. A person should stay in charge of safety, judgment calls, feedback and anything HR or legal. It is only as good as your documents, so keep them current.
What it suits
It works best as a quick lookup at the moment someone is stuck. It does not replace being shown the job by a person.
- How-to questions, such as how to open a work order or what to do when a form is missing.
- Where things are: supplies, files, forms and who handles what.
- Checklists for opening, closing, setting up a job or finishing one.
- Your own terms and abbreviations, explained in plain words.
- Questions a new hire would rather not ask for the fifth time.
Where a person must stay
- Safety. The assistant can point to your written procedure, but a person should show it, watch it done and check it.
- Judgment calls, such as an upset customer, an unusual job or when to ask for help.
- Feedback and coaching. Praise, correction and progress talks belong to a person.
- HR and legal topics, such as pay, leave, discipline and complaints. It should say it cannot answer and name who can.
- Anything it cannot find in your documents. It should say it does not know and say who to ask, not guess.
Keep the source documents current
An assistant that answers from last year's procedure will give last year's answer, and it can sound sure. Give each document an owner and a date, update it when the way you work changes, and remove old versions so they cannot be used. After each change, ask it a few test questions to see whether the answer changed too.
Think about what goes in. Procedures and policies are the point. Customer records, staff files and passwords usually do not belong in it. The related answer on putting customer information into ChatGPT explains why sharing details with an outside company deserves a deliberate decision.
Starting small
Pick one area, such as opening and closing, and collect the questions new people actually ask. Try it with your next new hire alongside a person who can correct it, and ask the new hire what it got wrong. The questions people ask can also show gaps in your training.
Tell staff plainly that it is an assistant, not the final word, and how to reach a person. The related answer on stopping an AI assistant from making things up covers keeping it to approved information. The related answer on what to ask before hiring someone to build AI covers who owns it, where your data goes and how you switch it off.
Related answers
- How do you stop an AI assistant from making things up?
- What should you ask before hiring someone to build AI for your business?
- Is it safe to put customer information into ChatGPT or another AI tool?
AI assistants and chatbots
A good assistant answers the question a customer asks at nine at night, in your words, from your information, and brings in a person when it should. We build that, and we test it on your real questions before a customer sees it.