TalentLMS Learning Debt Report: AI Use May Be Masking Skill Gaps

59% of employees use AI tools at least sometimes to complete tasks they were not trained to do.

TalentLMS, a leading employee training platform, released its new Learning Debt Report. With 41% of employees saying their role has evolved faster than their company’s ability to train them, many are relying on AI tools and workarounds to cover skill gaps, while staying quiet about what they don’t know.

As a result, Learning Debt — the growing backlog of learning that accumulates when work evolves faster than employee training and learning can happen — builds underneath. Over time, it shows up in preventable mistakes, lower-quality work, and weaker performance.

AI Gets the Work Done Without Building the Skill

AI is helping employees stay productive, but it may also be concealing the skills they still need to develop:

• 59% of employees report using AI tools at least sometimes to complete tasks they were not trained to do.
• 37% say AI tools have made them appear more competent at work than they actually are.
• 29% have delivered work they could not fully explain if asked how they did it.
• 50% agree that AI helps them complete tasks even when they do not understand the process behind them.

“AI is blurring the line between learning and doing,” said Dimitris Tsingos, CEO at Epignosis, parent company of TalentLMS. “This shift changes how employees build skills. But when they use AI tools for work they were never trained to do, organizations may see productivity on the surface while Learning Debt builds underneath. The opportunity for businesses is to make learning more connected to work, with AI-powered employee training that supports self-led learning and helps close gaps.”

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Staying Quiet to Look Capable

Learning Debt often stays hidden because employees feel pressured to look capable rather than ask for help. Nearly half of employees (47%) say they have stayed quiet about not knowing how to do something related to their job — most often because they were expected to figure things out on their own (50%) or did not want to appear incompetent (49%).

Managers often can’t see it happening: more than a quarter of employees (28%) say their manager doesn’t know how often they struggle with the skills their job requires.

The Cost of Falling Behind

Learning Debt may start out of sight, but the business impact does not stay hidden.

The clearest warning sign is preventable mistakes. Employees falling behind on learning are nearly 6 times more likely to make mistakes that proper training would have prevented. The damage also shows up in output: 65% of employees say work quality suffers most when employees fall behind on skill development, while 50% point to lower productivity and 48% to weaker performance.

Together, these findings point to the need for modern training that keeps pace with change and brings learning closer to the flow of work.

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