Using GenAI to Enhance Communications: A Recap of our Social Innovation Summit Workshop

The arrival of GenAI to the tech ecosystem offers endless potential for creative problem solving and innovation in the workplace. However, as explored in the Social Innovation Summit 2024 Breakout Workshop “Using GenAI to Enhance Communications,” hosted by 18 Coffees, its enigmatic nature invites ambiguity, and with it, feelings of overwhelm for potential users. “It’s hard to apply generative AI consistently because there is no shared definition of what AI is; there are too many applications and implications,” says 18 Coffees Managing Partner Caleb Gardner. 

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) refers to models or algorithms that create brand new output, such as text, photos, videos, code, data, or 3D renderings, from the huge amount of data they are trained on. The models 'generate' new content by referring to the data they have been trained on, making new predictions. AI chatbots or image generators are quintessential examples of generative AI models. Today, we see GenAI applicable to a wide range of use cases. According to McKinsey, using GenAI in business strategically can automate up to 70 percent of tasks that take up employees’ time, resulting in a notable increase in productivity. Businesses around the world use GenAI to perform project management tasks, to customize reports automatically, and even to streamline onboarding and professional development processes.

Our workshop is an especially timely one given society’s collective energy and enthusiasm around GenAI in the workplace. By guiding participants through an interactive exercise using a templated canvas, Caleb facilitated discussion around the practical application of GenAI as it relates to problem-solving around internal and external communication strategy. Participants were encouraged to brainstorm and share out on goals, objectives and value propositions for use in their own work environment. There was a palpable energy and enthusiasm around the fact that AI can help or bridge the work that many are tasked with.

For example, people discussed the benefit of simply asking an AI platform like ChatGPT to help find gaps in existing communications with the prompt “what are we missing?” or “what questions should we be asking?” Discussion evolved to consider the benefits of using AI to assist with finding grammar corrections within communications content, to find partners for initiatives, and to explore unanswered questions in grant materials. Eventually, focus shifted to address the important question of how to ensure data security and compliance in light of the incredible utility of GenAI innovation. 

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Feel free to reach out to us for more information about navigating and applying GenAI to your communications strategies.