The force multiplier: How AI accelerates collaboration and the role of comms

Insights from New York Women in Communications’ Women of AI Summit.

Diane Schwartz is CEO of Ragan Communications.

The pace at which we’re learning about and applying generative AI to our work can feel overwhelming, yet it’s undeniably thrilling. It presents incredible opportunities for communicators to rethink their roles within organizations. This was the central theme of the New York Women in Communications Women of AI Summit held at IBM’s headquarters in New York.

A few key takeaways stood out from the discussions:

  • AI should be leveraged for scale, not strategy.
  • AI strategy should be a collaborative effort, not a siloed role.
  • AI can be a “great equalizer” among employees, especially if diversity of voice, title, background and gender is prioritized.
  • AI allows communications teams to increase their value within organizations.

Joanne Wright, senior vice president of transformation and operations at IBM, emphasized the need to “be comfortable with the rate of change” and to prioritize upskilling. This means not only learning about and discussing AI, but actively engaging with it — piloting tools, experimenting and learning as we go.

Keynote speaker Sona Iliffe-Moon, chief communications officer at Yahoo, described this period as a “paradigm shift” that will disproportionately benefit those who move quickly. Her team, for example, saves over 1,000 hours per month using AI tools for design, writing, research and ideation. Some of the tools they rely on include:

  • General Use: ChatGPT, Claude, Grammarly, OtterAI
  • Design: Gemini, Feedly, Midjourney, DALL·E, Adobe Firefly
  • Internal Communication: Glean, AxiosHQ

The Yahoo team uses AI tools like ChatGPT for SEO optimization, generating meta descriptions with prompts such as “a 160-character meta description for this link.” While these results are usually accurate, humans are still needed to double-check AI-generated content.

Iliffe-Moon views ChatGPT as a “thought partner” that helps anticipate media interview questions and analyze post-interview content for valuable insights. Additionally, Yahoo’s team has developed a bot to handle HR-related inquiries and is widely used by employees.

Looking ahead, Iliffe-Moon envisions a future — possibly even “next week”— where generative AI can offer precise insights into when to launch products and predict potential crises, enabling communicators to anticipate and shape future narratives. “Our goal,” she said, “is to pilot new products and use them regularly. The best way to understand them is to use them.”

One of the most encouraging themes from the summit was how AI fosters collaboration among peers, especially as teams pilot and learn from these technologies together. At Yahoo, the 1,000 hours saved by AI have allowed the communications team to focus more on strategy. “Collaboration is the force multiplier,” said Iliffe-Moon.

The consensus was clear: AI can’t replace empathy and leadership — at least not yet. Despite the rapid pace of change, communicators must remain mindful of AI’s potential downsides, such as misinformation and the implicit biases built into its models.

Alyssa Bernstein, senior vice president of corporate communications at TelevisaUnivision, urged communicators to harness AI as a tool to demonstrate the value of communications and to take an active role in AI strategy. “Communications needs to have a point of view on this.”

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