How Leaders Can Prepare Organizations to Leverage AI-Enhanced Communications

Although not a new concept for the tech space, AI’s rapid growth over the past year has enabled it to enter and transform nearly every industry.

In fact, automation and generative AI are responsible for massive improvements to our daily business operations. From hiring and employee onboarding to payments and predictive analytics, AI has integrated seamlessly into the business landscape.

But now that AI and large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and Google Bard have become commonplace, business leaders are beginning to understand just how much can be done with AI technology.

For enterprise organizations, data analyzed by AI can be used to improve internal communications for employees, building meaningful connections in the workplace. But this must be done responsibly. For all the praise and excitement surrounding AI, there are also mounting concerns about security and privacy. Business leaders must keep security and privacy concerns in mind as they integrate AI-powered tools into their tech stacks. Only then will they be able to successfully improve comms productivity while enhancing the employee experience.

The Era of AI-Powered Communications

With over 100 million active users, ChatGPT’s generative AI has ushered in a new era of communication. In fact, a May 2023 study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Grammarly Business revealed that 40% of respondents were leveraging generative AI for all of their writing. This is a staggering amount, considering 80% of those workers also claimed their organizations had not yet implemented AI technology for writing and communications.

This research mirrors much of the discourse surrounding AI and the communications landscape, where employees are concerned about the technology’s impact on their jobs, yet still use generative AI to help with copy and content creation.

These high adoption rates at the individual level are already leading to interest and adoption at the business level. And while adjusting to any new technology takes time, business leaders shouldn’t let time and effort dissuade them from being early adopters of AI tools. After all, history has shown us time and time again that innovation drives improvement, creating the freedom to take on new challenges and carve out new paths.

Employing AI: Looking Inward

Business leaders interested in embracing AI should look internally, testing it with stakeholders and employees before employing AI in a client-facing context. To ensure company-wide adoption and assuage fears around the use of AI, leaders should provide clear guidance on how to use AI in the workplace, highlighting benefits like efficiency, reduced “busywork,” and other company-wide wins.

Internal comms is a key testing ground for AI. Using the right AI tools, you can send positive messaging about the company’s adoption of AI, and you can use AI to track employee engagement and sentiment. Once companies have a better understanding of AI, they can take those insights and apply them to customer interactions and other external-facing practices.

Gartner predicts that by 2025, 30% of outbound marketing messages from large organizations will be generated by AI. This is a leap from less than 2% of marketing messages powered by AI in 2022, and the focus on communications makes it an ideal use case for organizations tapping into AI.

As organizations use AI to boost communications productivity, Here are four key elements to help improve the employee experience.

Streamlining Content Creation

Capable of churning out thousands of words in seconds, LLMs add speed to content creation. This means more time spent on strategic work and less time spent workshopping the intro to an email or wordsmithing communications to new hires. Alternatively, HR teams can prompt LLMs to develop a brief questionnaire on workplace benefits or outline the quarterly company newsletter.

Applying Smart Suggestions

Predictive analytics also simplify content creation through smart suggestions for content, media, and templates that have proven successful for your company and customers. AI-powered tools can make recommendations based on reach and engagement to optimize content across channels to connect with the right audiences.

Backed by streamlined workflows and data-driven decisions, intelligent systems allow organizations to deliver more tailored communication experiences. With AI-powered tools, enterprise communications are more efficient, personalized, and productive.

Unlocking Hidden Insights

Adding AI-powered tools to your communications stack will open up a new world of information insights. Predictive analytics can provide organizations with recommendations to improve reach and enhance engagement, while other automated features can detect communication themes across departments, channels, and other workplace demographics.

Not only will you know the best time to reach an employee, you’ll know the right communication channel and have the opportunity to refine your strategy as often as necessary. This level of personalization helps employees feel seen and understood.

Practicing Responsible AI

While it may be tempting to copy and paste generative AI content without a thorough review, this leaves employees and organizations vulnerable to ethical violations. Generative AI produces content based on the information it has been fed, and recently, this has revealed issues with plagiarism, racial bias, and misinformation.

But just like a good editor reviews the work of their writing staff, organizations must revise content created by AI. Having a solid review process ensures employees will catch mistakes or issues with the content, and it gives them the opportunity to add human elements and personal touches.

Responsible AI also requires strong principles when it comes to security and privacy. Choosing AI tools with built-in governance allows organizations to mitigate the risk of sensitive company data falling into the wrong hands.

Additionally, organizations can ensure consistency in AI use by centralizing access and providing AI-embedded internal communications tools. This reduces the risks associated with employees using public tools, ensuring proper security and oversight.

The future of impactful enterprise communications lies in the hands of those who leverage AI wisely to drive innovation and excellence in communication practices.

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