The Role of AI in Internal Communications
Today’s breakfast session was even more energised and interactive than usual, and no wonder with such an evocative subject at the heart of our discussions! Safe to say AI is here to stay, and we’re all only just starting to get to grips with it – what it can do for us, the pitfalls and all the governance issues it raises. Kudos to Katie Marlow and Lisa Pantelli for agreeing to present today – as finding anyone confident enough to share their thoughts on this topic was not easy! Katie shared insights into how she uses AI within her consulting practice, and Lisa provided a whistle-stop tour of definitions, and an overview of how she uses AI in her role as Director of Communications at Elsevier.
ChatGPT really only hit the headlines in October 2022, so if your organisation is yet to agree their AI strategy – rest assured you’re not alone. Many organisations still fall in the ‘terrified’ category – whilst others are forging ahead with their own solution. But will AI replace the need for skilled IC pros? It doesn’t seem that will be the case anytime soon.
"AI won't take your job, it is somebody using AI that will take your job"
Professor Richard Baldwin, The International Institute of Management Development, Switzerland
And, as Katie says, ‘comms is a contact sport’ – we still need that human dimension – creating honest connections, built on trust.
So how can we use AI to our benefit, and what are the pitfalls to look out for?
What can AI do for us? It can help you to:
· ‘Make a start’, a catalyst for your thinking and development, and help you to overcome procrastination at the start of a piece of work
· Research areas you don’t know so well – different industries or professions for example – or pretty much any topic you can think of
· Build out ideas outside of our own bias / or sphere of knowledge
· Consider alternative options or further develop content for different purposes or audiences
· Do the heavy lifting in your work, for example
o recording and reviewing meetings, providing summaries and full transcripts to complement your notes
o Speed up the sharing of actions and minutes from meetings
o Analysing and summarising outputs
But what should we be mindful of?:
· Relying purely on AI won’t help you to build trust, connection and meaning for your people
· Accuracy and reliability of information; answers can be “confidently wrong” or made up
· Public data impacts quality and comprehensiveness
· Sources of answers are often not clear
· Bias and diversity is not always considered as it should be, with potential to propagate bias and be exploited by bad actors
· Ensuring appropriate governance is in place to ensure confidentiality and data security
· Never put personal or sensitive information into a free to use AI tool
· Always be transparent about the usage of AI
Getting to grips with AI is a journey that we’re all on, and it is going to take some time to feel confident about how to manage it, and how to benefit from it. In the meantime…don’t panic, perhaps take some time to look at the various resources available, and ‘play’ with AI… safely.
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Some useful further reading:
CIPR – AI in PR panel. Resources and reports, such as Humans still needed. https://cipr.co.uk/CIPR/Our_work/Policy/AI_in_PR_/About_the_panel.aspx
#Futureproof AI stack https://www.futureproofingcomms.co.uk/thelatest
Governance of artificial intelligence https://committees.parliament.uk/work/6986/governance-of-artificial-intelligence-ai/publications/
Thinking about the security of AI systems https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/blog-post/thinking-about-security-ai-systems
Andrew Bruce-Smith https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewbrucesmith/
Katie King https://www.linkedin.com/in/katieeking/
Dame Wendy Hall https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendy-hall-2652655/
AI and the future of internal communication IoIC, The Institute of Internal Communication
Published by Nicky
