Comms execs debate AI’s promise and the risks of falling behind

At Ragan’s AI Horizons Conference last month, a group of comms executives discussed the benefits and potential pitfalls of AI in the workplace, largely agreeing that automation’s largest threat to communicators isn’t necessarily the generative technology, but the failure to properly adapt to it.

“For the comms profession, if folks are not learning AI and mastering it, I think you’re a 10 on the scare scale,” said Paul Gennaro, head of corporate communications at New York Life. “This is a blockbuster moment. If we do not coexist with AI, somebody is going to take our job. Some 27-year-old MBA from McKinsey is going to go to a conference with a bunch of CEOs and say we can outsource your corporate communications function and cut your costs in half.”

On the positive side, Michael Lamp, chief digital officer at HUNTER, said that the propagation of AI within comms contexts could help younger communicators accelerate their careers by focusing on tasks that connect more to business strategy.