Naomi Majek, Assistant Librarian, Stockport NHS Foundation Trust
Background
We started offering ‘Introduction to AI’ training at Stockport NHS Foundation Trust and Tameside & Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust, in response to the growing interest and ambition to leverage AI across the organisations – feedback from the training identified the appetite for a follow-up session on the practical use of AI tools. Around the same time, Microsoft Copilot chat was made available in our organisations for administrative purposes, which presented a good opportunity to use this tool – as a result, we developed a ‘Copilot Stay & Play’ session to offer further support with developing skills and confidence around AI.
Session Overview
Our ‘Copilot Stay & Play’ is a 1-hour hands-on session designed for beginners from any staff group, be they clinical or non-clinical.
It covers:
- How generative AI models work
- Prompting tips
- What to be aware of when using AI
There is a live demonstration of Copilot with examples of tasks, followed by dedicated time to try a few activities and reflect on what worked well or less well. We work collaboratively to offer joint online sessions that are open to staff across both organisations and arrange sessions on request for individual teams.
Feedback
Since launching the training, it has been one of our most popular sessions, leading to the rising profile of the Knowledge & Library Services across both Trusts.
Feedback shows that staff generally find the session informative and easy to follow. The practical aspect is particularly appreciated, and we’ve had positive feedback about being able to see and discuss examples in real time.
One attendee even said, ‘It was probably the first training session I have actually enjoyed (I have worked in the NHS for 30 years)’!
The session achieved its objectives, with most people reporting increased knowledge and confidence to use Co-pilot after the session. Many say it will help them to save time and increase productivity, which we hope will lead to lasting benefits. Some of the ways people plan to use Copilot after attending are:
- Developing intranet pages
- Summarising
- Rephrasing non-confidential information
- Creative tasks
- Learning
Reflections
Through offering introductory training sessions on AI, we have found that:
- We know more than we think we do and have developed our own confidence around AI tools – we don’t have all the answers, but we can usually signpost to the relevant information or resources.
- People who come to the sessions have different opinions and expectations about AI, which can be challenging – we try to navigate this by being clear about what we can offer and providing an opportunity to discuss the benefits and risks related to AI.
Some of the key factors that contributed to the success of this training session were:
- Offering the right topic at the right time: Being user-led in planning the session and putting it together in a short timeframe were enablers for success.
- Giving a ‘safe space’ to experiment with Copilot: Dedicated time to try out using Copilot with suggested activities helped attendees to see how they could use it to support their work.
- Shared learning experience: Attendees learn from each other’s experiences, and we usually learn something new too!
- Shared service model: Joint sessions and sharing workload across two Knowledge and Library Services created the capacity to offer the training.
Next Steps
The sessions have a short shelf-life due to the fast pace of change in AI at the moment, so we hope to review our AI literacy training offer more broadly this year. We already include relevant information on AI in our other sessions (including literature searching, writing for publication and health literacy), and we will continue to review user demand for any standalone sessions
Health Libraries Group 