Generative AI is great for comms pros, but it's not magic

As we approach the second anniversary of OpenAI's ChatGPT, the conversations about using this technology in communication are becoming more grounded in reality than hype.   

Most colleagues in our field have already explored the leading tools to some degree, some only dipping their toes, with others diving headfirst.    As someone who has done the latter and who was interested in AI before ChatGPT, I have been experimenting and trying to learn as much as possible. This approach has only increased my interest in the technology, whether to incorporate it into my work as an AI Champion at Hotwire Australia or as an AI startup founder.    

Based on this experience, here are some learnings from the AI front:

• No free lunch, just cheap: Free versions of generative AI tools offer only a glimpse of their actual capabilities. Premium subscriptions provide better features, larger language models, and improved accuracy. They also usually allow you to choose how the platform uses your data, which is critical to ensure the privacy of clients. Investing $30 monthly in a personal subscription or in licences for your team might seem expensive, but considering what these tools offer, it's hard to deny their value.
• Perseverance pays off: Like any skill, proficiency with generative AI tools improves with time. As you become better at crafting prompts and understand best practices, the quality and speed of your work increase. It's a steep but rewarding learning curve. With time, you understand what works and when to use the tools. You also start training the AIs to make them deliver results that are closer to what you need.
• Forget automation vs. human: AI can automate some aspects of content creation or PR work, but most of the time it should be used as an assistant. Real automation, when AI does all the work, is hard to achieve and probably not even desirable in most communication areas. Automation can work for reporting or media monitoring, for example, but generative AI can’t produce passable results without human supervision in the vast majority of cases. People continue to be critical for quality control, decision-making and genuine outputs.
• Dream big; stay grounded: Using generative AI can significantly improve your work, but the revolution everyone talks about will only come by integrating it into our workflows. Imagine an AI that could curate all the email newsletters you receive, highlight the most relevant information, create content based on it, and select the media to pitch the idea. Generative AI has the potential to do this, but implementing such a process requires planning, adequate data, and hard work. Radical transformation through AI is a marathon, not a sprint.
• No small risk: To address concerns such as bias, misinformation, and privacy, you must start by defining guidelines and using paid tools, as they are safer. Training and creating a culture of transparency is also fundamental to avoid poor practices, like lack of fact-checking or using content that infringes copyrights. AI didn't create these risks but amplified them. The solution is to develop sound practices and stick to them. That said, don’t forget: the quality of the work you or your team produce is still about your abilities.
• Who wins?: Traditional artificial intelligence is really good at performing specialised tasks (think of chess) and has been used to replace roles based on repetitive work. Generative AI opens the possibility of impacting those at the top, too. Recent studies show that comms positions involving simpler, repetitive tasks are most affected, while others suggest AI can close the experience gap faster and more efficiently, reducing some advantages of those at the top. These views are not mutually exclusive and may play out differently depending on the context. What is clear is that AI will benefit those who use it, giving them an advantage over those who neglect it.
• Everyone is learning: Despite the fast pace of generative AI innovation, we're still in the early stages of adoption. Most organisations and workers are still experimenting. This presents an opportunity for those who haven't fully embraced the technology to catch up. There's still time to dive in, but you need to start.

Generative AI offers immense potential for communication professionals, but it's not magic. It requires investment, practice, and time. The key is to remain open-minded, ethical and focused on what works. Most of all, it is critical to explore the technology as much as possible to see where it leads.