Podcast: The impact of AI on Internal Comms

How can you integrate AI into internal comms, what are its benefits, and what are the ethical considerations communicators are navigating?

A summary of the podcast.

Introduction to AI in IC:

AI, especially generative AI like ChatGPT, has brought both excitement and concern in the IC space. IC pros are increasingly exploring and experimenting with AI tools.

Sources for AI Knowledge -

Credible Sources:

💡CIPR’s "Humans Needed More than Ever" report

💡IoIC’s white paper on AI

💡Simply’s internal comms conferences

💡Influencers like Dr. Joy Buolamwini.

Networking & learning:

Attend conferences and webinars to learn about real-life applications and case studies of AI in IC.

AI benefits for IC: 💡Generate first drafts of scripts and articles to improve efficiency. 💡Assist in overcoming writer's block. 💡Research and generate imagery, making content more engaging. 💡AI isn’t replacing comms pros but act as a tool to enhance speed, quality, and creativity.

Some highlighted IC➕AI use cases -

1️⃣ Content creation:

Help draft initial versions of messages, articles, or scripts, which are then refined by you.

2️⃣ Efficiency & speed:

Reduce the time taken to create content by starting with AI-generated conversations, ideas, research and drafts.

3️⃣ Research assistance:

Leverage AI’s capacity to summarise and present large volumes of data, helping you to start your work faster based on your prompting and context setting.

4️⃣ Image generation:

Use AI to create visuals when relevant imagery isn’t available. Make sure you identify that it's been created using AI.

5️⃣ Employee story gathering:

Envision chatbots to gather employee stories through guided prompts, potentially reducing time and effort for interviews.

6️⃣ Personalisation & smarter emails:

Use AI to personalise IC better and reduce noise.

Challenges & ethical concerns:

💡Concerns include privacy, confidentiality, the traceability of AI sources, and potential copyright issues. 💡Authenticity is a significant challenge, especially in the context of deepfake videos and AI-generated imagery—maintaining trust and ensuring transparency in communications is crucial. 💡Ensuring ethical AI use is a shared responsibility. Many comms teams are involved in building organisational AI principles and maintaining alignment with business ethics.

Strategies for AI Integration:

Normalising AI use:

Mention it in your IC strategy and integrate it into your day-to-day work and use it as a support tool.

Building AI knowledge:

Upskill teams by attending conferences, following industry experts, and even proposing mandatory AI learning courses in organisations.

Collaboration:

Establishing AI task forces and joint cross-departmental initiatives to enhance the shared understanding of AI and its capabilities.

Top tips for comms teams Exploring AI:

Upskilling:

Utilise free online resources from Google, Microsoft, and LinkedIn Learning to build knowledge on AI and prompt engineering.

Start small & experiment:

Begin with simple uses like generating headlines or summaries.

Collaborate internally:

Work with other teams in the organisation to understand different uses of AI and help shape company policies and guidelines.

Educate & advocate:

Lead discussions on ethical AI use, data privacy, and responsible practices, become a trusted advisor in this space.

In summary, some IC use cases for AI:

💡Content drafting: AI helps with writing first drafts of communications, making the process faster and easier.

💡Imagery generation: AI creates engaging visuals for communications where existing imagery is insufficient.

💡Employee story gathering: Chatbots or AI assistants can collect employee stories interactively, making the process more efficient.

💡Personalisation of emails & comms: AI can potentially help reduce noise in communications and personalise content more effectively.

💡Efficiency tools for script/article creation: Helps create a base structure, allowing comms professionals to build on AI-generated content.

💡Support in research & insights: AI can summarise complex information, making it easier for communicators to understand and relay critical points.