AI for Internal Comms: Lessons Learned
AI has taken communications by storm over the past two years! As I’ve spent some time working with and learning about these technologies, I wanted to share some personal observations, in the hope that other communicators may find them useful.
Tech communicators should be the first to learn from our developer and product partners
I love being a tech communicator because I greatly enjoy spending time with my developer and product colleagues and learning from them! I often find that technical teams inherently possess the most important component of communications: they prioritize clarity and logic. To learn how to best use AI, learn how these technologies actually work - you are in a unique position to do so because of your proximity to technical colleagues. And of course, I hope that I teach them something in return about how to effectively communicate key messages without losing the technical substance. If you are looking to learn more about how AI works, I recommend following the work of Berkeley researcher Anastasios Angelopoulos.
Use AI to produce better comms, not just faster comms
AI has helped accelerate communications work at a rapid rate - communicators quickly adapted to use it as a thought partner to debate ideas with, run metrics analyses, summarize information. While AI is great for increased productivity, as communicators, we should also be challenging ourselves to use it to create entirely new, better things that were not possible before (or out of the reach of our budgets). For example, I have been impressed by how quickly video generation models have advanced - I’m able to make interactive videos to communicate information in a more fun and engaging way than ever before. AI-powered audio podcasts are a great way to share information in a quick, easy to digest format - employees can receive episodes on their chosen podcast platform and listen on their commute to work, etc. (you can use tools like Supporting Cast to gate these to internal company use only). I was also recently blown away by the quality of Suno’s AI music generator - check it out.
Some things never change: clarity is king
I encourage everyone to understand how AI works and to use it to advance your communications goals. The current age of AI is also an age when it is easy to generate a lot of information - which can easily overwhelm your audience or dilute your message. In my opinion, the most impactful comms are clear: easy to understand and accurate. Never lose sight of the end reader - as communicators, it is our duty to always put their experience first.
Note: Any tools mentioned are personal recommendations based on products I’ve tried and liked - not sponsored content or ads.
