- Have any questions?
- 02 9247 6000
- media@commsroom.co
- Have any questions?
- 02 9247 6000
- media@commsroom.co
Menu
Communicators, both internal and external, are starting to grasp the immense potential of AI as a tool that can enhance their work, streamline time-consuming and repetitive tasks, and improve overall workflow.
Its impact is simultaneously exciting and frightening. Failure to embrace AI could threaten the status quo and even job security within the comms industry. The reality is that AI won’t replace a comms professional, but someone adept at using the technology might.
This is the first article in a five-part “Demystifying AI for Communicators” series by Ramak Salamat from employee communications platform provider Staffbase.
Deepfake threats are on the rise – we have seen alarming deepfakes of explosions near the Pentagon, which impacted the US stock market, and more amusing AI images, like the Pope wearing a white puffer jacket. For the world, AI is unlocking new types of creative potential – both good and bad.
However, this could mean that company leaders and employees are now at risk of being imitated. It’s becoming more difficult to distinguish real from deepfake content so internal communicators have a job to do in protecting their colleagues.
What is the fastest way to do this, you may ask? By creating content, channels, and processes that employees know they can trust.
For heightened security, communications and business leaders might contemplate establishing proprietary ‘walled gardens’ – secure, internally maintained communication platforms. An organisation-owned employee app, for instance, could serve as a trusted channel for employees to access information, and for employers to ensure secure delivery of communications via push notifications. Such a method ensures greater protection as it is less vulnerable to breaches from external senders, unlike traditional email, as information flow is strictly controlled by your organisation.
Employers are the most trusted institution among information sources globally, so creating these valuable internal channels is critical to protecting this trust that employees place in them.
These “walled garden” channels also ensure that departments don’t fall prey to cyber-breaches that the average employee may find increasingly hard to detect.
Despite the challenges AI poses, it also presents enormous opportunities for communicators. From enhancing efficiency, personalising communication and producing data-driven insights, AI can assist internal communicators in enhancing the communications between organisations and their employees.
The first step to harnessing this potential is educating on employees on where they can go for information they can trust, and what processes to follow if they are unsure about some of the communications they receive. Sometimes very simple measures go a long way to mitigating the risk of AI; for example, setting up a verbal password to be communicated via a phone call to confirm important decisions, so employees don’t act on written instructions via channels such as email or WhatsApp alone.
Right now, AI can only do what it’s been trained to do. It cannot replace the job of a communicator. Instead, it offers new ways to boost creativity, save time and sharpen strategic thinking – as long as communicators set up the right processes to safely work with it.
Utilising generative AI responsibly enables us to enter a new era in communications. In my next blog, I will focus on some of the ways communicators can experiment with AI to understand how they can cut down on repetitive time-consuming tasks, create more personalised communications and infuse AI into workplace tools such as to-do list aggregators to enhance their career.
Ramak Salamat is a renowned technology leader with over 20 years of experience in emerging technologies, strategic workforce planning, and the future of work. Currently serving as the Vice President for the Asia Pacific (APAC) region at Staffbase, Ramak works closely with leaders across the region to elevate their internal communications and employee experiences. She is highly skilled in blending technology with strategic foresight to develop optimized workplaces, a quality that has enabled her to guide companies through complex changes and prepare them for evolving workplace demands. She has been recognized as one of the top global Sales Leaders by Sales Hacker in 2020 and 2021, underlining her consistent excellence in driving business growth.
