The new year brings new opportunities to learn and leverage trending technologies. While generative AI is not a new tool, its expansion into our daily lives and continued rapid evolution can make it feel new. It integrates technology, creativity, and expertise to improve efficiency and strengthen results. The “AI revolution” is upon us, and Elmore is excited to guide you through the implications and applications for your organization.
What is AI?
AI has become newsworthy in recent years with the development of generative AI, a type of artificial intelligence that can create, rather than merely analyze, original content. Generative AI programs like ChatGPT, DALL-E and Google AI can create text, images, and niche search results based on prompts provided by a human. In fact, the more descriptive and detailed the prompt, the more accurate the results will be.
For example, when given the prompt, “provide me with a two-sentence description of generative AI to use in a blog post about its benefits,” ChatGPT produced the following:
“Generative AI is a branch of artificial intelligence that creates original content—such as text, images, videos, and music—by learning patterns from existing data. By mimicking human creativity, it enables innovative applications across industries, from crafting personalized marketing campaigns to designing unique visuals and streamlining content creation.”
What is it not?
AI is not infallible. Users should always fact-check results, be mindful of inherent biases (“AI tools are only as good as the available data, and it’s going to replicate any biases or stereotypes generated by humans,” says PRSA member Linda Staley), and exercise caution to not input sensitive information into an AI platform.
Nor is AI a replacement for human expertise. AI is a tool, but it does not eliminate the need for critically-thinking professionals with years of nuanced industry experience.
How can AI help you?
No matter your profession, generative AI can be a helpful tool in research, content development, and synthesizing information. There are several AI platforms we recommend you try.
ChatGPT (from OpenAI) is a conversational AI widely used for customer service, content creation, and brainstorming. Input a question or prompt and it will provide a response based on the extensive dataset it was trained on, which includes text from books, articles, websites, and other publicly available written material up to its knowledge cutoff date (most recent training data as of 2023).
Microsoft Copilot bills itself as “your AI assistant for work.” This generative AI is built into the Microsoft suite of apps, including Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, and Teams, to improve your workflow efficiency. For example, Copilot in PowerPoint, can create a new presentation from a prompt or Word file. In Teams, Copilot can summarize up to 30 days of chat content, and in Excel, can suggest formulas or provide insights about data in your spreadsheet.
Marketers can leverage generative AI tools for graphic design. Canva’s Magic Design creates “custom, on-brand designs in seconds.” Provide the tool with a text prompt describing your design, and it will output branded marketing materials, social media posts, and more.
In your personal life, AI has infinite use cases. It can be used to generate travel itineraries, organize to-do lists, decode lab results, or provide a customized reading list based on your favorite books.
How do PR professionals use AI?
In any professional setting, but especially in the public relations industry, AI can be used to improve efficiencies, freeing up time for practitioners to strategize and implement.
At Elmore, we regularly use AI to aggregate information and analyze data, whether we prompt it to develop a list of influencers who meet certain criteria, or to compile a list of recent articles written on a particular topic or by a certain reporter. Used as a tool, with proper oversight, AI offers grist for the mill as we implement the strategic elements of a campaign.
Have a question about how to utilize AI effectively in your communications? Reach out and let us know what questions you have. Give AI a try and let us know how AI has helped streamline your business and personal life.
