Leveraging AI in Communications
Generative AI has exploded onto the scene and revolutionised our interaction with technology, fundamentally changing how we communicate.
Last night, close to 70 IABC members and guests were thrilled to hear from a panel of experts on the opportunities for innovation, the risks and how we can leverage AI in our roles.
Many thanks to Microsoft's Chief Technology Officer, Lee Hickin and Director Corporate Comms, Elizabeth Greene, and Traffyk.ai's co-Founder Alex Manchester.
To thank them for their time and expertise we have made donations to the The Australian Literacy & Numeracy Foundation, and RSPCA Australia. Thanks also to our wonderful sponsors Salt & Shein and Lucy Newcomb for your ongoing support of IABC NSW and Communication professionals.
Here's a few things we learned from the panel, AI's benefits extending well beyond content automation in our day-to-day work:
Knowledge Extraction: Easily distil key insights from vast amounts of unstructured data.
Ideation: Get inspiration for comms activities - AI can even suggest names for campaigns to stimulate creative thinking.
Draft Testing: Use AI to evaluate if key messages are effective and enhance the quality of written pieces, especially those authored by multiple individuals.
Tricky Question Generation: AI can generate unexpected and thought-provoking questions to equip us for challenging presentations and be more confident in our responses.
Professional Communicators also play an important role in ensuring AI’s ethical application in our organisations. Never share confidential information through AI tools and be aware of the risks such as the potential for bias, misinformation and inaccuracy. While tempting, we should resist the impulse to increase content volume – always focus on quality not quantity to get cut through and reduce organisational noise. AI is a great opportunity to show our strategic value, using our skills and experience to capitalise on its capabilities and shape how it's used.
AI is moving very very fast and the tools will become even more sophisticated, addressing specific business issues at lightening speed. But far from taking over our roles, the panel agreed the human element remains irreplaceable in Professional Communication. Our skills in understanding context, identifying insights, surfacing issues, influencing stakeholders and building relationships all remain crucial to an organisation’s success.