News and Insights
Communications Best Practices for Navigating AI’s Innovation Hype Cycle
August 26, 2024
Artificial intelligence is the most transformational technology since the internet, reshaping society in unprecedented ways. We are just scratching the surface of its potential rewards—and its risks.
To operationalize insights from the last 30 years of tech history and leapfrog past landmines, PRWeek and FINN Partners convened several of the industry’s savviest communicators to understand what we in marcom might expect, how we can prepare, and respond.
From parallels between the gen AI hype and the early days of the internet to strategies that stand the test of time, the following highlights can help organizations stay ahead in this dynamic environment.
On parallels to the internet boom:
- Similar hype, with a tighter leash. Becky Buckman, managing partner at Battery Ventures, witnessed the intense investment frenzy in dot-com companies firsthand as a reporter in the 90s. She notes that the same excitement exists now for anything associated with AI, but with one key difference: back then, companies that were hemorrhaging cash were still allowed to go public. Today, there is greater oversight.
- Find meaning and real-world impact. At the heart of this cycle, there is incredibly sophisticated technology. Shrewd communicators must identify and articulate WHY key audiences should care. This requires understanding internal and external stakeholders and knowing HOW to make complex concepts accessible and compelling.
- Authenticity should guide implementation. When YouTube, Facebook and Twitter emerged, some organizations were gung-ho early adopters, others took a wait-and-see approach, and challengers asked about risk and ROI. Ultimately, companies were most successful when they adopted social media in a way that aligned closely with their brand and culture. The same principle applies to AI.
Standout storytelling in the dot-AI era:
- Tell the human-interest story. Randy Cairns, senior vice president of marketing and communications at Hyperscience, emphasized the importance of humanizing AI by sharing stories that demonstrate its tangible benefits. For instance, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, a Hyperscience customer, once took up to four months to process reimbursements but now uses AI to reduce that time to less than a week. Highlighting the personal impact conveys the business benefits of implementing AI far more effectively than paragraphs of jargon.
- Embrace new opportunities, and look for ways to create immersive experiences that everyone can understand and see themselves in. Paula Berg, vice president of global comms at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, pointed to Antonio, their CEO avatar, which has been trained on gen AI and can answer any question about the company and its industry. More importantly, it provides a tangible example of the expansive applications of AI for businesses.
On navigating the current media landscape:
- Substacks vs. magazine racks. Comms must reach journalists where they are — whether through email or social media — as only a rare few still answer their phones, noted Therese Van Ryne who oversees global external communications at Zebra Technologies. PR people must find the right reporter—who is personally or topically aligned with your area of interest—and give them the assets to tell your story: data, videos or infographics, along with a compelling narrative.
- Manage expectations by setting KPIs focused on quality vs. quantity. According to Backlinko, 200 million people use ChatGPT; whereas Netscape Navigator, the 1990s’ most popular web browser, had about 40 million at its peak. This exceptional interest and adoption require communicators to balance expectations and stand out in a crowded market.
How to stay ahead:
- Invest in your personal AI literacy, which, like any continuing education, requires both an appetite and discipline. To support that, Hewlett Packard Enterprises is creating an ‘AI U’ program that allows team members to enter at levels that match their interests, meeting them where they are, with what they need to know.
- AI can be your assistant. As Van Ryne aptly noted, you may not lose your job to AI, but you may lose your job to someone who knows AI better than you. That’s why all of us must get up to speed on AI, understand how it can enhance our roles, and always ensure we add a human touch on top of it.
For a deeper dive, tune in to the entire webinar moderated by the brilliant Sabrina Guttman.
Thekla Eftychiadou is a senior partner at FINN Partners and co-leads the agency’s AI working group.
POSTED BY: Thekla Eftychiadou
