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Take outs from our Artificial Intelligence storytelling webinar, part of the Brands Transforming Our World webinar series.
In our “how to tell powerful AI stories in tumultuous times” webinar last month we heard from a fantastic panel about their views on AI adoption, perception and the resulting impact on communications narratives.
Katie Turner, Deputy MD, Business & Technology at Brands2Life was joined by:
As Sid Venkataramakrisnan, European technology correspondent at the Financial Times outlined, though this year has seen a significant acceleration in digital transformation, it’s more nuanced than reflecting a general AI adoption. He also pointed out that we’re at an interesting cusp when it comes to storytelling and how we view automation and AI and pulled out two key points to demonstrate the opportunities and challenges. A World Economic Forum report recently suggested that half of all work tasks would be automated by 2050, but with economic uncertainty after Covid likely to last for years to come, talk of automation will be increasingly contentious. Secondly, a survey by the Oxford Internet Institute found that the people who are most positive about AI tend to be people in executive positions and unlikely to be worried about the impact on their own roles.
Throughout the discussion, the numerous opportunities which AI offers to society were raised, with Marie Angselius-Schönbeck from Amelia, an IPsoft company, talking at length about enabling a world without barriers and looking at how we, as citizens, want our society to look in the future with AI supporting our aging populations and enabling better services across government, healthcare and the education sector. Emily Orton, CMO at Darktrace also talked about the importance of trust and the examples where AI needs to be explainable in its decision making to take the public along the journey to see AI as a benefit to them with better outcomes. She also outlined how organisations are likely to be judged in the future by whether they are using all the tools at their disposal, including AI, to protect their customers and provide the best service they can, whilst talking about the importance of augmenting roles, rather than removing them.
Public perception and the myths surrounding AI were common themes but the panel provided clear guidance for those looking to create powerful AI narratives:
1. Don’t focus solely on your story – consider how you fit into the narrative of how AI is benefitting society and providing better outcomes for us all
2. Consider how you can tell a positive story for the industry as a whole – supporting the next wave of entrants into the sector, positioning the UK as a centre for excellence and building the narrative around trust in technology
3. Engage with wider industry trends and stakeholders – as the conversation around AI continues, it’s essential that government, business and industry stakeholders engage in topics such as risk, purchasing frameworks and data usage to ensure that the public sees that AI is rolled out in a considered way
4. To tell a genuine AI story make sure you have the technical narrative to back up your business – media want access to credible thought leaders in the space who have proven successes with customers. Showcase how your story is interesting, novel and isn’t just speculative or using AI hype to try and secure interest
5. Don’t shy away from the tough conversations – ethics, risk, speculation around the impact on jobs – all will continue to be factors in the AI discussion. If organisations are to engage fully in the space, they need to have a view on these themes
As Lord Clement Jones, co-chair of the all parliamentary group on AI highlighted, much of the future of AI is reliant on groups from across industry and government coming together to recognise the level of risk but ultimately, “the only way government, business and big tech will persuade us AI is a good thing is in how they behave when they implement AI and in using our data.”
The full discussion is available to view here, but my key takeaway was that it’s no longer enough for organisations with an AI narrative to just focus on themselves – you need to be part of the bigger picture to make yourself heard. With the next 12 months set to see even more developments in AI – with adoption, innovation and regulation all set to take another leap forward – now is the time to capitalise if you have a true AI story to tell, and we’re ideally placed to help you succeed.
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Written by Katie Turner, Deputy MD, Business & Technology
To watch more of Brands2Life’s webinars on demand and to see what’s coming up next visit our webinar series site.
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