Dara Cothran, Executive Vice President Global Strategy + Insights at KWT Global, asks, "You control the impact that AI will have on comms – what do you want the future to look like?" Read on for her intel on how marcomms pros can own the AI narrative.
One of the principles we often discuss in communications is the importance of controlling your own narrative. If you want to maintain control, you need to speak first and steer the conversation down the desired path – otherwise, someone else will beat you to it.
AI’s potential impact on the communications industry can be viewed the same way.
Some professionals have already seized the narrative, shaping what the future of AI in comms could look like. Some are hanging back to observe, while others are against AI altogether.
But let me be clear: AI is already impacting communications and has the potential to completely reshape our industry – from the skillsets needed to the service offerings provided. If you’d like to be a part of that future, you need to get involved now, understand the landscape and develop a perspective on the opportunity. If you don’t, others will – communicators and non-communicators alike – and that puts our industry at risk of losing control of our narrative and the strategic value we bring to businesses.
AI is already impacting communications
Chances are, AI is already a part of your daily workflow – and you may not even realize it. Monitoring and measurement tools, transcription tools, translation tools and grammar and spellcheck tools all incorporate some element of AI to provide more accurate results. Even if you consider yourself the least savvy technologist – if you’ve Googled or used Instagram or TikTok, AI has impacted your life through the information you’ve received and the framework you’ve used to make decisions.
Change will continue to come in bite-sized nuggets; the tools you use every day will increasingly incorporate AI to enable better outcomes. We’ll also see new offerings that have the potential to reshape the future of our industry. To control the narrative, it’s important to evaluate these advances within the framework of the value you’re providing now and the value you want to offer in the future. Consider how these advances in AI can help you get there.
Considering the strategic value of AI
When I think about the opportunities of AI, I see three clear buckets emerging that will help supplement and showcase our value as strategic advisors to businesses.
1. Saving time and resources – The manual work that is often associated with our jobs – gathering and organizing information, transcribing meeting notes, building coverage reports, creating media lists and project management – is key to successful outputs, yet often the least rewarding. AI will continue to be able to understand and take on these tasks for you, whether it be scheduling meetings with dozens of participants, sifting through massive coverage reports to remove irrelevant coverage or quickly identifying the most relevant reporters for your pitch.
2. Ideation – AI is not yet at a place where we can comfortably trust it to sort through data and provide accurate insights, nor am I sure I want it to be; I love that part of my job. However, AI can help inspire you. ChatGPT can serve as a starting point for research ideation and generate hypotheses to inspire your research. PRophet can suggest a reporter target you may have never considered. Taylor, PRophet’s AI writing tool, can generate a first draft of a pitch or press release you’ve been procrastinating. Relative Insight can compare language usage in customer reviews to help you understand messaging challenges. DALL-E can generate sample images to help you understand the visuals your language might evoke.
3. Iteration and Optimization – Strategy isn’t created in a vacuum, nor should it be created and put on a shelf. We should be constantly measuring, optimizing and iterating based on the information we have access to. AI can help you process and identify trends across massive amounts of data to inform these shifts. ChatGPT can help you iterate and refine or test headlines and copy. Grammarly can help you put your best self forward. Tools like Yoodli can help you practice your pitch or support your media training efforts. PRophet allows you to test message effectiveness. Adobe Photoshop now even has tools that allow for AI-generated edits.
The biggest threat is not participating
Simply put, if you aren’t using AI – or uncovering new ways to provide strategic value with AI – others will.
Fear lies in the unknown. Get to know the possibilities of AI and shape the future you want to see. What should the next innovation be? What would make you better at your job? What new roles and capabilities could AI facilitate?
Challenge the current model, the current vendors and the current options, and be an instigator of change – the future of communications depends on it.
