How communicators can showcase their indispensable skills in a world of AI
As the landscape of work changes, comms pros need to adjust their approach.
Tasks that once required a team of people to complete can now be done on a rudimentary level in minutes by a generative AI program.
At Ragan’s Future of Communications Conference earlier this year, Tyrona Heath, director of market engagement and co-founder of The B2B Institute at LinkedIn, shared her perspectives on what communicators need to do to ensure that they’re showcasing their value as AI continues to evolve.
“Rather than waiting for things to unfold, what I want to do is for us to be prepared for that future, so we can have the agency to make those choices,” Heath said.
Heath said that communicators’ jobs are going to shift quickly and might look completely different in a few years, all because of AI.
“You could be sitting in the same team, same role, but by 2030, 70% of what you know now will no longer be relevant to what it is that you will be doing,” she told the audience, citing data from LinkedIn. “I think this represents an opportunity. Skills become the currency, so pedigree becomes less relevant, and what you know how to do becomes more important.”
Heath told the audience that the rise of AI in comms applications is going to require an assessment of the indispensable skills comms pros are bringing to the table.
“AI can have dialogue with us,” Heath said. “It understands context. It can suggest alternatives. So when you have something that does this, it stops feeling like a tool and starts feeling very much like something else. When we have forever defined our professional identity as the people who drive the messages, who help people understand context, what makes us, us as marketers and communicators in this new world?”
Heath also emphasized how human judgment is still critical when it comes to AI-augmented communication.
“AI is not so good at organizational context — at the wisdom of history, lived experience and being in community,” she told the audience. “Our value isn’t in competent content anymore. It’s in the meaning we add.”
Heath continued, telling communicators to take a good look at their work and attempt to figure out how to work alongside AI while still showcasing their value.
“Which tasks fall into predictable areas where AI can help, and which require judgment?” she said. “If most of what you’re doing is predictable, start thinking about how to evolve your role.”
She concluded by telling comms pros that even with these major changes shifting emphasis toward AI, there’s still room for effective, people-powered messaging.
“Our value isn’t in competent content anymore,” Heath said. “It’s in the meaning we add — the judgment, the context and the resonance. That’s the opportunity ahead of us.”
To watch Heath’s presentation in its entirety, visit Ragan Training.
Sean Devlin is an editor at Ragan Communications.
