AI is quickly reaching every corner of the business world, many companies are finding new ways to utilize AI – as it continues to evolve and grow. At Thinkific, we are constantly looking at how we make the lives of our customers better, help them get to their goals faster, and ensure they feel supported by new and exciting technologies. In order to achieve this, we created an internal AI committee dedicated to coordinating and governing the use of AI in the business and exploring how it can help to optimize and enhance our user experience. And all of that work has made one thing clear: AI is quickly changing our world, and it can have a positive benefit to our Thinkific customers, if it’s applied in the right way, protecting our customers’ Unique Genius.
Our goal is to enable creator educators to pursue their passion and make a living doing it. We do this by providing them with an accessible, easy-to-use platform for building profitable digital businesses using courses, communities, live events, digital downloads, and more.
There’s no doubt that AI could help our users become more efficient, overcome roadblocks, and expand their skillset. At Thinkific, we’ve already released AI-assisted tools like name generators, outline generators, and funnel creators to enable them to do just that.
Thinkific’s AI council has developed a series of measured AI principles that will guide the work of our passionate team, today and in the future. We are excited to share these principles with our customers to increase transparency around what you can expect from Thinkific in regard to AI moving forward.
- What is generative AI?
- Overview of AI principles
- Thinkific and AI
- Purpose and future with AI at Thinkific
What is generative AI?
Artificial intelligence has been around for quite some time and was groundbreaking in its ability to understand and recommend information. Generative AI differs from more traditional forms of AI, as it can build on existing technologies and produce brand-new outputs that can be strikingly similar to human-generated content.
Generative AI refers to artificial intelligence systems that can generate new content, including text, images, music, and more, based on the data they’ve been trained on.
These systems use machine learning models, particularly deep learning neural networks, to understand patterns, styles, or logic from the input data and then create original outputs that mimic those patterns. The technology has applications in various fields, including design and education, offering innovative ways to create and conceptualize new content at speed and without sacrificing quality.
Generative AI is growing everyday – and not just with language – learning the grammar of software code, molecules, natural images, and music patterns along with various other types of data.
At Thinkific, we are exploring, researching and testing its limits as this new form of technology continues to evolve. We’re on a mission to revolutionize our platform with generative AI, unlocking a world of unprecedented creative possibilities for our educator community, all while upholding the highest standards of AI ethics.
Related: AI for Creators: 5 Types of Content Creators and How They Use AI
Overview of AI principles
As Thinkific integrates AI into our system, we want to remain transparent with our creators and stand by our core values to help better the experience that Thinkific offers.
Learn how we uphold responsible and secure AI principles within Thinkific:
Your Unique Genius(™) first
Creators are their brand and what makes their learning products unique. We use AI to augment the expression of a creator’s Unique Genius, not to replace it.
Do no harm
We will always seek to protect a creator’s intellectual property and will not use AI to generate harmful content.
Do it for me
Consultants tell you what to do, teams do it for you. We seek to do more with AI and handle labor-intensive tasks so that customers can concentrate on what they do best: teaching and educating their audience.
Cake, not icing
AI is baked into the core of our product, not superficially layered on top. The data we’ve gathered over a decade offers valuable insights and differentiates our offering beyond what’s possible with competitor products with embedded AI.
Thinkific and AI
Now that you’re aware of our core values and principles with using AI, let’s take a deeper look into how we apply these principles into our platform.
Our responsible AI principles
1. Unique Genius first – At Thinkific, the concept of helping a creator express their Unique Genius is central to everything we do. When building with the Unique Genius first principle in mind, we seek out ways to help a creator brainstorm teaching ideas and organize their thoughts to help them express their knowledge in writing.
This principle protects creators’ authenticity. Generative AI is not here to replace ideas, thoughts, and the work that goes into creating an online course, but rather it is available to expedite and enhance your ideas. AI content is generated to facilitate the creation of new learning products, all while using your own style and voice. Your existing material is enhanced to get those creative juices flowing, and help you explore your limitless potential.
This principle is here to guide creators in their work, and to prevent AI from becoming the sole or dominant creator. Generating new learning products exclusively using AI breaches this principle and replaces human potential. Remember, you are the creator of your own course. Your Unique Genius makes you the ultimate decision maker and creator. The final product is your intellectual property, your asset.
2. Do no harm – The ideas a customer generates are kept in confidence. To do no harm, we ensure that a creator is the author, sole beneficiary and undisputed owner of the intellectual property they create when using Thinkific’s AI assisted features, like content generation. We may also take proactive steps to monitor content on Thinkific’s platform to determine whether it abides by our terms of service and to defend against harmful content, including hate speech, violence, and harmful content.
This principle also makes it our ethical responsibility to provide an inclusive AI user experience that is free from bias and discrimination towards individuals. We are committed to always seeking diverse perspectives and monitoring our AI system to ensure that we consider real-world impacts when creating trustworthy solutions for our creators.
Do no harm also reflects that the creator’s content and personal information are protected. To ensure that content is not taken from one creator and used to generate solutions for another creator we are committed to responsibly handling intellectual property and personal information guided by our own principles and in accordance with applicable privacy laws and regulations.
3. Do it for me – We want to help creators speak with their authentic voice. Our do it for me principle encourages us to find the places where a creator spends time and energy which takes away from what they do best, then automates those tasks – like drafting a sales funnel or creating a landing page for their course.
The time and energy spent doing menial tasks could be used elsewhere, allowing you to effectively work at scaling your course and attracting new students. AI can help save time for you to focus on the most important skills that specifically require a human touch.
As a course creator and business owner, it can sometimes be hard to loosen the reins and allocate tasks to others. However, with AI there to assist your course creation needs, you can be productive in other areas of your business with the reassurance that AI will do just as good a job as you would’ve done – or even better, as there is no room for human error. Automating certain tasks will help you deliver a more smooth and efficient online course while driving your revenue stream.
4. Cake, not icing – We’ve worked with creator educators and business owners for over a decade and have seen what sets successful customers apart. Cake, not icing, is all about helping creators set the foundation of their masterpiece with a solid, steady base that is unmovable. Our AI features support creators with the best practices so that they can focus on the more decorative and eye-catching aspects that will make their course sell over and over again.
Thinkific has years of experience compiling all of the most effective course creation tactics, from what works best to what practices won’t hold up over time. We can confidently say that our system has the expertise to recommend and suggest actions that see real, tangible results. Our AI features are here to share this knowledge with you, and help your course and audience thrive. We are passionate about providing timely, relevant, high quality ideas and solutions, so that you are left with a strong base that you can keep updating with new layers of icing!
Applications of AI
Our four core values and principles of AI demonstrate our commitment to providing our customers with the tools they need to build a successful business. Deep learning generative AI systems can facilitate effective online course creation, and specific applications and models can assist creators in making intelligent business decisions.
Our teaching and selling tools that harness the power of AI use a variety of these key features to equip customers with everything they need to get their online course up and running:
Virtual assistants
Virtual assistants and chatbots help improve overall user experience for both customers and their audience, and this feature uses real-time engagement to help troubleshoot and promote viable solutions, making the conversation as interactive and personal as possible.
Creating smart content
Generative AI has the power to help creators generate rich learning experiences for their audience by predicting user behaviour through natural language processing (NLP) – this helps creators sell courses and other digital products that resonate emotionally with their target audience.
AI generates insights to inform different content strategies quickly and efficiently. It creates smart content with its ability to analyze large inputs of data, identifying patterns and knowledge gaps to help optimize content strategy.
Recommendation systems
Customers can increase their productivity by receiving recommendations and tips from AI on the most effective approaches to take when creating a course. This can also aid course sales, as recommendation systems can target potential students and give them guidance on which course of yours is best suited towards their learning goals.
As well, AI tools can ensure that your course is of the highest quality, detecting any grammar and spelling errors, suggesting improvements to sentence structure, and offering insights to help creators improve the contents of their ditigal productsonline course.
Automated administrative tasks
Work smarter, not harder. Generative AI assists with course operation tasks that are more behind-the-scenes, such as creating promotional content, drafting course outlines and objectives, and email marketing campaigns. This leaves time for you to focus on the actual content of your course and rehearsing how you are going to teach it.
Personalized learning
Generative AI helps personalize all aspects of your course, making it more diverse and inclusive to all populations. It can provide a tailored learning experience for a specific audience, reflecting on the needs and interests of segments of the course. This level of personalization will ultimately increase student engagement with your course.
Customized support
Along with a personalized learning experience is customized support. Generative AI can provide a hyper-personalized support system through monitoring learners progress – analyzing potential areas of growth can let educators know when their students need extra assistance. In this case, AI can help generate custom study guides, flash cards, reminders, and daily practice suggestions for students to implement into their routine.
Voice assistants
Generative AI can use voice assistants to take student learning a step further, providing extra support to those who would benefit from an alternative style of learning. With this feature, students can access extra learning material or assistance through voice features, simplifying the learning process without the need for direct involvement from the course instructor. This saves valuable time on both ends!
Data research and analysis
Generative AI can help provide valuable insights and data, helping creators identify relevant trends, topics, and keywords to add to their existing content. This will help creators’ online courses become more searchable to their target audience. As well, AI technology conducts research and gathers information from relevant sources, providing creators with ideas that’ll keep their course on par with what their ideal students are looking for in a course.
Content marketing
Content marketing uses the assistance of AI to help handle routine tasks to promote your course. Generative AI can come up with social media ads, captions, performance and campaign reports, and more. It can also ensure that your brand’s style and voice are streamlined throughout your course content, making your course more discoverable.
Data security
Generative AI assists in protecting your data and intellectual property. Predictive analytics allow AI algorithms to adopt a proactive approach, predicting potential security breaches before they have the chance to happen. Creators’ privacy is of the utmost importance to us, and AI adds an extra level of security to protecting data.
Related: 22 Top AI Quiz and Exam Generators to Test Your Students Knowledge With Ease
Purpose and future with AI at Thinkific
Purpose of AI
Generative AI has created deep learning tools that have the ability to create high quality content that is almost indistinguishable from the work of humans. However, that is not to say that AI is limiting human application – this tool provides us with the capability to expand and enhance knowledge that’s already there, taking our creations to the next level.
Remember, AI isn’t here to replace human intelligence and creativity – this tool does have its weaknesses, and it lacks the ability to replicate the unique value that humans bring to the table. AI is a tool that facilitates creative workflow and assists creators in delivering content that will stand out against their competitors.
Future with AI
Thinkific is committed to upholding our AI principles, and takes responsibility for implementing these core values of (1) Unique Genius first, (2) do no harm, (3) do it for me, and (4) cake, not icing into our platform. Our technology is here to assist our creators in their course creation processes, and is a tool in product creation.
On Thinkific’s platform, humans hold ownership when using AI technologies. We follow these guiding principles when crafting AI-powered features to give our creators access to innovative tools while also maintaining their genuine and unique voice.
AI continues to grow and evolve, and at Thinkific our goal is to use AI features to innovate our platform and provide a simple, effective, and easy user experience for our creators. Applied the right way, generative AI has enormous potential to create new capabilities and value for customers and their audience.
Thinkific’s mission is to better assist our course creators in creating high quality content that drives course sales and revenue, and generative AI holds the power for customers to connect and collaborate with their audience like never before.
All this AI talk have you interested in trying out some AI tools? Check our free tools out here!
