Welcome to 2024 – the year where AI transforms, disrupts, does some good and also some bad. The good is with us already, from Bloomberg’s success harnessing automated data for its company briefs to improved voice assistance in customer support. The bad ranges from police arrests by failed facial recognition to the bogus legal court cases of Michael Cohen.
Especially for public relations, the future of artificial intelligence is now:
A Bold New Hire: AI is like having a new worker who is inexperienced but learns fast. In the USC Annenberg Relevance Report, 88% of communication leaders said AI will have a positive impact on the speed and efficiency of many work tasks, and 72% said it will reduce workloads. More than half said AI will positively impact creativity–the message: staff up with AI.
Revolution in Traditional News: AI captures mindshare as news organizations struggle for relevancy and viewership. The U.S. will have lost one-third of the newspapers it had in 2005 by the end of 2024. The 6,000 newspapers left in America are a decrease from nearly 9,000 in 2005, according to Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism. AI as a newsroom content creator is a survival necessity, with form and rules yet to be codified. Fake authors and bent facts are early pre-shocks in the earthquake facing journalism.
Social Media’s New Best Friend: New AI tools allow the measurement of social engagement metrics faster, better and cheaper, and are much in demand after a disruptive 2023 in which Twitter became X and Meta launched Threads. Transparency is the new authority. In an election year where platforms face intentional misinformation, Meta already requires political advertisers to disclose if they use AI.
Are Humans Obsolete? A study by online education platform edX reports that 49% of CEOs say AI could replace “most,” or even “all,” of their own roles, and 47% say that might even be for the better. 96% of CEOs surveyed in Fall 2023 Fortune/Deloitte CEO Survey Insights said they are implementing or likely to implement Gen AI “to increase efficiencies.” That’s not modesty; it’s the bottom line.
Your Voice in the Wilderness. The new artificial world demands more than ever that CEOs, managers and employees speak up and speak out. Why? Because we still trust each other more than any chip. And despite the rise of empowering robots, businesses are overwhelmingly seen as worthy of trust and business leaders are seen as spokesmen for us all. As respondents to the Edelman Trust Index put it, CEOs are “obligated to improve economic optimism and hold divisive forces accountable.”
You speak, the world listens. We’re here to make you heard in 2024.
IN THE NEWS
Digijaks, OWC’s strategy partner, strengthens online reputations and builds trust with authorities
OWC’s partnership with Digijaks is growing ever deeper with reputation risk assessment for clients. In 2023, Digijaks successfully removed negative and inaccurate client information from ChatGPT and Google Bard forever, conducted three briefings for federal law enforcement agencies about Russian hackers’ methods, two briefings for state and local law enforcement about social engineering and hacking techniques and two briefings for federal judges and both plaintiff and defendant lawyers behind chambers in reputation control civil lawsuits.
Abiomed featured in two of the top 25 broadcast markets
OWC secured broadcast segments in December in two of the top 25 media markets featuring Abiomed’s Impella, the world’s smallest heart pump. Local stations in Portland and Dallas featured two patients whose hearts were enabled to rest and recover as a result of their doctors and the Impella.
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