Today we celebrate the power of books to transport us to new worlds, broaden our horizons, and inspire us in countless ways. In honor of World Book Day, as a researcher, I am excited to introduce you to a unique reading challenge that will take you on a journey of discovery and learning.
As we navigate the fast-paced and ever-evolving world of technology, we must stay informed about the latest advancements and their impact on our lives. That's why I've curated a collection of digital publications that explore the intersection of artificial intelligence, communication, and public relations.
Through these insightful and thought-provoking publications, I'll delve into the cutting-edge developments in AI and how they're shaping the future of communication and PR. From understanding the impact of AI on journalism to exploring the potential of chatbots in customer service, these publications will give you a comprehensive understanding of the role of AI in modern-day communication.
So let's dive into our reading challenge and discover new perspectives on this rapidly evolving field.
Communications Trend Radar 2023
A team of researchers at Leipzig University and the University of Potsdam (Germany) observed trends emerging from society, business management, and technology. They scanned hundreds of recent academic and business publications, selected the most relevant issues, and scored them according to their impact on corporate communications. As a result, we identified another five trends for the Communications Trend Radar 2023 that will change communications profoundly and
offer new ways for communication leaders to position themselves as thought leaders: state revival, scarcity management, unimagination, parallel worlds, and augmented workflows.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tools and the Impact on public relations (PR) Practice
Public relations is more than communication - it is about building and maintaining sustainable relationships with all stakeholders. That, in turn, secures the future of our organizations. You can’t communicate your way out of bad behavior or poor decisions - and AI doesn’t offer a solution to either of these issues. It may worsen if your bad choices and what others say about them are the narrative from which AI tools draw their data. The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) has been at the forefront of helping practitioners understand the impact of artificial intelligence on public relations for many years. This project explores the artificial intelligence (AI) sophistication (or otherwise) of tools and services capable of deployment in the public relations sector. The authors initially examined a dataset of more than 10,000 marketing tools and focused the analysis on public relations-related ones.
European Communication Monitor 2022
The 2022 survey explores diversity and inclusion, empathic leadership, CommTech, consulting in communications, strategic issues, and characteristics of excellent communication departments. The European Communication Monitor 2022 is based on responses from 1,672 communication professionals in 43 countries. Detailed analyses are available for 22 countries and different types of organizations (companies, non-profits, and governmental agencies).
Diversity, equality, and inclusion influence organizational policies and communications worldwide – but only every second European communicator has closely followed global trends and discussions in this area.
Most practitioners have experienced empathic traits from communication leaders; this significantly impacts commitment, engagement, and mental health.
Very few communication departments have established an advanced use of CommTech to digitalize internal workflows and communication activities – organizational structures are identified as the main obstacle to rapid transformation.
Quality of consulting in communications is difficult; three out of four respondents want to see appropriate standards covering consultants, clients, or both groups.
So What if ChatGPT Wrote It?
Transformative artificially intelligent tools, such as ChatGPT, designed to generate sophisticated text indistinguishable from that produced by a human, are applicable across a wide range of contexts. Technology presents opportunities and, often ethical and legal, challenges and has the potential for positive and negative impacts on organizations, society, and individuals. Offering multi-disciplinary insight into some of these, this article brings together 43 contributions from experts in computer science, marketing, information systems, education, policy, hospitality and tourism, management, publishing, and nursing. The contributors acknowledge ChatGPT’s capabilities to enhance productivity and suggest that it will likely offer significant gains in the banking, hospitality, tourism, and information technology industries and enhance business activities, such as management and marketing. Nevertheless, they also consider its limitations, disruptions to practices, threats to privacy and security, and consequences of biases, misuse, and misinformation. However, opinion is split on whether ChatGPT’s use should be restricted or legislated.
The AI Index 2023 Annual Report
This year, the report introduces more original data than any of the previous editions, including a new chapter on AI public opinion, a more thorough technical performance chapter, an original analysis of sign language and multimodal models, detailed trends in global AI legislation records,
a study of the environmental impact of AI systems, and more. The AI Index Report tracks, collates, distills, and visualizes data related to artificial intelligence. Our mission is to provide unbiased, rigorously vetted, broadly sourced data for policymakers, researchers, executives, journalists, and the general public to develop a more thorough and nuanced understanding of the complex field of AI. The report aims to be the world’s most credible and authoritative source for data and insights about AI.
I hope these most recent publications have provided valuable insights into the intersection of AI, communication, and public relations. By exploring the latest developments in this exciting field, we can better understand how technology shapes our world and how we can harness its power to improve our lives. On this World Book Day, I encourage you to explore new books and publications that challenge your perspectives and broaden your horizons. Let's celebrate the magic of books and their ability to transport us to new worlds, inspire us, and help us grow.
Thank you for joining me on this journey, and we hope to see you again for future reading challenges.
Keep reading, keep learning, and keep exploring the world of books!
Bibliography:
Zerfass, A., Stieglitz, S., Clausen, S., Ziegele, D., & Berger, K. (2023). Communications Trend Radar 2023. State revival, scarcity management, unimagination, augmented workflows & parallel worlds. (Communication Insights, Issue 17). Academic Society for Management & Communication. Available online at www.academic-society.net
Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tools and the Impact on public relations (PR) Practice
Zerfass, A., Moreno, A., Tench, R., Verčič, D., & Buhmann, A. (2022). European Communication Monitor 2022. Exploring diversity and empathic leadership, CommTech, and consulting in communications. Results of a survey in 43 countries. Brussels: EUPRERA/EACD.
Kar, Arpan & Baabdullah, Abdullah & Koohang, Alex & Raghavan, Vishnupriya & Ahuja, Manju & Albanna, Hanaa & Albashrawi, Mousa & Al-Busaidi, Adil & Balakrishnan, Janarthanan & Barlette, Yves & Basu, Sriparna & Bose, Indranil & Brooks, Laurence & Buhalis, Dimitrios & Carter, Lemuria & Chowdhury, Soumyadeb & Crick, Tom & Cunningham, Scott & Davies, Gareth & Wright, Ryan. (2023). "So What if ChatGPT Wrote It?" Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Opportunities, Challenges and Implications of Generative Conversational AI for Research, Practice, and Policy. International Journal of Information Management. 71. 102642.
Nestor Maslej, Loredana Fattorini, Erik Brynjolfsson, John Etchemendy, Katrina Ligett, Terah Lyons, James Manyika, Helen Ngo, Juan Carlos Niebles, Vanessa Parli, Yoav Shoham, Russell Wald, Jack Clark, and Raymond Perrault, “The AI Index 2023 Annual Report,” AI Index Steering Committee, Institute for Human-Centered AI, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, April 2023.