You've seen the LinkedIn posts and listened to podcasts from AI evangelists. You've read the scare stories in the national media around the impact on the job market for young people. You've seen almost every online advert mention the term. You've diligently listened to people in your own network explain what they are doing. You're still none the wiser.
As a comms professional your first port of call was to ask whichever platform you had access to – probably Microsoft Copilot – to create some words for you… And you're just disappointed with the output – bland statements, the odd hallucination, that weird AI cadence ("Where everything is like this [pause for effect] Then like that.") and the over reliance on the em dash.
Undeterred, you have asked it to improve something you've already written, an article for your CEO for example. And this makes you really unhappy. Factual inaccuracies, misunderstandings, and an output that sounds nothing like the person you are writing for.
The CEO has asked the team to look at AI and your company held cross-functional meetings. The person in charge of IT said some words. You muttered something about privacy and GDPR. You all agreed to create a working group which went away and the conversation eventually moved on. But still the sense you're missing out is something that you can't shake.
I know all of this because this was me. I have, however, recently had the opportunity of exploring the potential of AI tools in a number of projects which have changed how I view AI. The website you are reading this on was produced by myself in less than a day on Claude through a series of prompts. This has not only saved me money, but allowed me to spend more time focusing on what matters – content.
Legitimate reservations… and clear opportunities
There are still many legitimate reservations around machine produced content.
We can all see the growth of AI slop online. YouTube thumbnails that are all as exciting as each other. Social media videos which feel a bit odd. Community event posters in the local Tesco which are clearly produced by ChatGPT.
Even in a professional context we are seeing it. Over 75% of content produced on LinkedIn is created by a machine. It's not just in the seemingly never ending posts where people make action figure dolls out of themselves, but in the infographics with too many words, the cheery and breezy updates which all sound the same, and the often repeated structure using emojis instead of bullet points.
As a communications professional AI has led to some fundamental questions. In a world where anyone can create just about good enough content, at speed and with ease, how can we ensure our messaging continues to cut through? With the resulting decline in online trust, how will my organisation cultivate an audience? When people are simply asking a tool for answers, how do we remain relevant?
In my mind, the answer to all of these questions lies in a shift in focus to the people behind the organisations we work for. Companies will need to double-down on their humanity and will need the help of Comms to achieve this. We will need to adapt and show more flexibility, while ensuring the fundamentals of our work – consistent and timely messaging to a curated and cultivated audience – are not forgotten.
Most importantly we will need to continue to bang the drum internally, so colleagues understand the value we provide is more than just being a team of AI prompters.
Being more productive and making more time
Thinking about some of the organisations I have worked for, the resources at my disposal, and the teams I have led, it made me realise the opportunity for AI lies less in creating content, but more in creating the space to allow communication professionals the time to do their job well. I've also focused my thinking on how AI tools can help smaller teams to overachieve.
Over a series of blogs we will explore how AI can:
- Create a bespoke media monitoring system from scratch for a handful of pounds a year.
- Publish websites for almost free.
- Take the brunt out of research.
- Be effectively used to help you write impactful content.
- Support teams without designers on design decisions.
We'll also touch on effective strategies and approaches for organisations looking to have an impact in a post-AI world. I will focus on practical applications where possible, sharing my experiences and how I feel that can be applied in any organisational setting.
If you want to discuss how AI-assisted communications can help your organisation's communications achieve more, get in touch today.
