How Associations Actually Teach AI Skills

With a recent Pew Research report showing that 50 percent of Americans are more concerned than excited about AI, and only 10 percent more excited than concerned, association leaders who want employees and volunteers to learn AI skills have a tough slog ahead. Here’s an idea: If you want them to adopt generative AI, put them in a room, give them real data, and require working demos by the end of the sprint, as demonstrated by The American Society for Nondestructive Testing.

The strongest case for this format comes from how learning and adoption for adults actually happens. A widely cited active learning meta-analysis found higher performance and fewer failures when people solve problems directly rather than listen to lectures. A rigorous project-based learning review ties artifact creation to gains in achievement. A 2025 working paper on AI in customer support measured a 14 to 15 percent productivity lift with larger gains for novices, evidence that guided tools and exemplars accelerate capability on the job. Organizational change also follows visibility and peer proof, which is the core of the diffusion literature synthesized in a classic diffusion analysis. Put people together, give them governed data, and require five-minute demos to executive judges. That is the fastest way to move from interest to working software and from working software to credible pilots.

Time pressure and coaching focus attention. A recent hackathon  maps how short, intense builds drive teamwork, problem solving, and persistence when organizers set clear goals and provide structure. A complementary educational  reaches similar conclusions and highlights the value of facilitators who unblock teams during the sprint. The result is not only faster skill acquisition but also a clearer path to standardization, governance and scale.

Please select this link to read the complete article from ASAE's Center for Association Leadership.