Beyond the hype
AI for leaders: capability, limits and value.
- Level
- Bitesize
- Learning time
- 2 hours
- Where
- AI for Leaders
- Price
- £39
When you step up to a higher level, what you paid in the last 12 months for lower-level courses inside the bigger course comes off its price, in proportion to how much of each is inside it, whichever topic it's from. Courses at the same or a lower level don't give credit against each other. A Focus course or above always costs at least £15. Read the full terms
Certificate of Completion
Overview and Outcomes.
Overview
This opening module makes the case that AI is a leadership question, not an IT project. It traces a short history from Alan Turing's 1950 paper to ChatGPT and the Welsh Government's AI Cymru plan, uses Local Government Association and Work Trend Index evidence to show AI is already in use, and sets out four kinds of AI, five questions to ask of any use, and the principle of owning the decision. This module explains, without mathematics, how large language models produce answers by predicting probable text, and why plausible is not the same as correct. Drawing on Agrawal, Gans and Goldfarb's idea of AI as a prediction machine, the Ayinde v Haringey fake citations case and Parasuraman and Manzey's work on automation bias, it sets out where AI helps, where it fails, and practical literacy habits for checking. Evidence first, enthusiasm second. This module reviews the strongest studies of AI and productivity: Brynjolfsson, Li and Raymond on customer support, Dell'Acqua and colleagues' jagged technological frontier, the METR trial of experienced developers, the civil service Copilot evaluations and the contested MIT NANDA claim that 95 per cent of pilots fail. It shows why time saved is not value created and why value is measured in outcomes.
What you'll develop
In this Bitesize, you will develop the ability to:
- Explain why AI is a leadership question rather than an IT project, and why existing duties of fairness, lawfulness and accountability still apply.
- Distinguish generative, predictive, perceptive and agentic AI and identify the main risk each brings.
- Explain how a large language model produces an answer and why fluent output can still be wrong.
- Distinguish prediction tasks suited to AI from judgement tasks that must stay human, and match checking to the stakes.
- Explain what the main productivity studies found, including who gained most and where AI made capable people worse.
The Modules.
2 hours of learning.
- 01Foundations: Why AI Is a Leadership QuestionThis opening module makes the case that AI is a leadership question, not an IT project. It traces a short history from Alan Turing's 1950 paper to ChatGPT and the Welsh Government's AI Cymru plan, uses Local Government Association and Work Trend Index evidence to show AI is already in use, and sets out four kinds of AI, five questions to ask of any use, and the principle of owning the decision.38 min
- 02How AI Works: Capability and LimitsThis module explains, without mathematics, how large language models produce answers by predicting probable text, and why plausible is not the same as correct. Drawing on Agrawal, Gans and Goldfarb's idea of AI as a prediction machine, the Ayinde v Haringey fake citations case and Parasuraman and Manzey's work on automation bias, it sets out where AI helps, where it fails, and practical literacy habits for checking.39 min
- 03The Evidence on Productivity and ValueEvidence first, enthusiasm second. This module reviews the strongest studies of AI and productivity: Brynjolfsson, Li and Raymond on customer support, Dell'Acqua and colleagues' jagged technological frontier, the METR trial of experienced developers, the civil service Copilot evaluations and the contested MIT NANDA claim that 95 per cent of pilots fail. It shows why time saved is not value created and why value is measured in outcomes.40 min
Go deeper, and pay only the difference
- You are hereBitesize, 2 hours, £39
- Next stepFocus, Understanding AI as a leader, 3 hours 30 minutes, £69. Already own the Bitesize? You pay £30.
- Explore, Leading in the age of AI, 6 hours, £129. Already own the Bitesize? You pay £90.
- The whole topicImmerse, The human edge, 11 hours, £249. Already own the Bitesize? You pay £210.
When you step up to a higher level, what you paid in the last 12 months for lower-level courses inside the bigger course comes off its price, in proportion to how much of each is inside it, whichever topic it's from. Courses at the same or a lower level don't give credit against each other. A Focus course or above always costs at least £15. Prices per person. Read the full terms
Also part of: Leading with data and digital, Clear heads on AI
Other Bitesize in the AI for Leaders topic
- Start with the problemAI strategy and UK, Wales and EU policy1 hour 15 minutes£39
- Good data, wise buyingData readiness and AI procurement1 hour 15 minutes£39
- Right, fair and lawfulEU AI Act, AI ethics and algorithmic bias1 hour 15 minutes£39
- Keeping humans in chargeAI governance and oversight in public services1 hour 15 minutes£39
- AI and the future of workAI, jobs and workforce social partnership1 hour 15 minutes£39
- Bringing people with youAI literacy, skills and leading adoption1 hour 15 minutes£39
