Alelo AI Reskills Workers in Half the Time of Conventional Programs to Become Semifinalist in Global XPRIZE Competition

By AIT News Desk On Sep 3, 2021

Alelo advances as a Semifinalist in the XPRIZE Rapid Reskilling competition with its eight-week online course that trains unemployed and underemployed for a career in healthcare through role-playing with artificially intelligent avatars.

After reaching the top ten in a competition that included 118 entrants from 20 countries, Alelo has now become a Semifinalist in the $5M XPRIZE Rapid Reskilling. To reach this milestone, Alelo’s revolutionary AI-based avatar simulations reskilled workers most vulnerable to employment loss in half the time of conventional programs. Alelo collaborated with the Hampton Roads Workforce Council of Virginia on recruitment and independently measured program outcomes.

“We’re proud of these results for our Spiral Stair-Case training model that were validated by the Hampton Roads Workforce Council and XPRIZE,” said Alelo CEO Lewis Johnson, PhD. Built around key on-the-job scenarios, Alelo trainees watch dramatized cases, then role-played with AI avatars, and finally with other trainees. The cases became increasingly challenging, building the trainees’ competence and self-confidence.

Alelo tailored its solution to reskill workers in the pandemic. “During the pandemic, we have seen sudden surges in demand for skilled workers in healthcare and public health,” explained Dr. Johnson. “Although people were aware of workforce skill gaps before the pandemic, the pandemic brought the problem into focus. Once people got over the initial shock of having to move their work online, they became much more receptive to online solutions that train people in new ways. We refined our solution so that it prepares trainees for current demands for health workers, as well as for possible future demands.”

Alelo is now expanding its public-health training program nationwide and internationally, and applying its avatar-based artificial intelligence technology to other occupations that require rapid reskilling and upskilling.

“I’ll be traveling to Hampton Roads this week to personally meet the employers and trainees who participated in the program,” said Dr. Johnson. “I’m heartened by their success in addressing an urgent need for our nation’s labor force – and our economy.”

Launched in June 2020, XPRIZE Rapid Reskilling is sponsored by nonprofit venture philanthropy organization New Profit and in partnership with JFF. The competition incentivizes teams to develop and demonstrate the effectiveness of rapid training and reskilling solutions for individuals most vulnerable to employment loss. The solutions developed in this competition will reduce training time by at least 50% for occupations with a living wage and will be provided at no cost to the individual. The Finalist in the XPRIZE Rapid Reskilling Sponsored by New Profit competition will be chosen in January 2023.