Distinctive Dispatch #22: Why comms needs a human touch
Thoughts on AI in thought-leadership; join our next Distinctive Discussion on 20 February; working from home is work; golden comms rules for 2025.
Better comms for people, places and work
This newsletter comes at a busy time for the Distinctive team, with important work and exciting opportunities ahead of us. Working smarter, faster and better sits at the heart of the country’s productivity puzzle. Housing, health, skills and getting to work easily matter too. As does finding time to think, which is often squeezed by other pressures.
This newsletter is our space to shape and share thinking with you. We hope it’s useful. If you have thoughts or suggestions on what you’d like us to cover in future, let us know in the comments or get in touch.
Hype and headache of the AI revolution
The drive to bring AI into our daily lives highlights a mismatch (in my mind) as organisations collectively grapple with the implications.
On one side is ambition to ‘revolutionise’ how we live and work, championed by tech companies, investors, media and government ministers. The government’s recent AI Opportunities Action Plan explains in headline terms technology’s potential to transform public services, boost productivity and grow the economy.
Elsewhere in the mix, if not directly opposite, sit concerns about challenges - skills, data protection, regulation and a mixed user experience.
We have used AI in different ways for years. I get the ambition and see the potential. But using Large Language Models like ChatGPT conjures up images of comedian Les Dawson at the piano in the 1970s. He’s playing the right notes, in the wrong order.
As a team that cares about genuine, human, authentic communication, we get this feeling when reading some ‘content’ from Large Language Models. The words are there, but something’s off.
Tools lke ChatGPT can make a pass at creating content by distilling other people’s work, using data scraped from the internet. But, as others point out here and here, the output lacks personality, emotion and variation that makes great writing.
‘Slop’ became one of the words of last year for this reason. And, as writers like Gary Marcus and Ed Zitron regularly point out, Large Language Models often get things maddeningly wrong.
Yes, I know there may be an issue with some ‘prompts’ - that’s instructions from users. No, we shouldn’t expect perfection. But, for the millions of words posted about potential, we are yet to move from the abstract to genuinely helpful use cases which help us work better. To be clear, ‘improving customer service’ isn’t a use case. And show me a chatbot that works well before adding that one to the list.
If an AI revolution is coming, the troops aren’t marching in line. How we adopt AI while retaining our distinctive voice and working better is a huge opportunity, in my view. It’s also different from using it to ‘drive efficiency’ by reducing human involvement and frustrating users in the process.
Navigating the noise
This change is just one big reminder – as if we needed any – that we live in volatile times.
That Donald Trump’s return to the White House sparked concern about his policies and behaviour is a given. It’s striking how quickly the retreat from ‘wokeism’ followed his inauguration.
I know I shouldn’t be shocked by Trump blaming diversity initiatives for last week’s air collision over Washington as rescue teams recovered bodies from the crash scene. But it felt as outrageous as it was irresponsible.
This is ‘common-sense leadership’ 25.0, where facts don’t matter if they get in the way of a soundbite or headline. In a way, ‘twas ever thus. But the speed that misinformation spreads mistrust is quickening and coarsening public discourse.
Bots amplify this, highlighting AI’s potential for bad transformation that its champions don’t always acknowledge.
‘Row, row, row your bot’ – AI sparks debate in Bristol
Bristol isn’t Washington DC, but the city has its share of topics that divide opinion. One such issue, which we’ve covered before, concerns proposals for ‘liveable neighbourhoods’ in residential areas using measures to reduce car use.
People who care about the climate, active travel and reducing congestion are among the more vocal supporters. Others who also care about these issues strongly oppose the proposals, running petitions and campaigns to halt them.
This week, a seven-point critique of liveable neighbourhoods from a local resident appeared in Bristol24/7. The 720-word piece made the case against, as one would expect. But it lacked insight, emotion or reference to lived experience.
Editor Martin Booth questioned its provenance in a post on X that users viewed more than 22,000 times as I write this.
Responses raised about AI’s role in shaping conversations - from journalists, writers, and faceless accounts (oh, the irony) - should give those who care about trust pause for thought.
It interests me as someone who’s written loads of posts and speeches for other people as well as myself. Our work is shaped by understanding our clients and working closely with them and their teams to create it. People we work with trust us to provide material that reflects the spokesperson’s viewpoint. We ask them to satisfy themselves that it does.
The dash for ‘hot takes’ makes it tempting to use AI to express a viewpoint, without putting the time in. This may generate clicks. But outsourcing thoughts to a bot just makes your work just a little bit more like everyone else’s. Look at what’s happening here. What’s personal or authentic about that?
AI can help by providing insights, testing one’s thinking and assisting with tasks that provide time to think properly.
But putting real people at the heart of important discussions remains vital.
I’d love to hear how you’re addressing this challenge. If we could help you think things through, drop me a line for a coffee.
Photo in the thumbnail is by Sanket Mishra on Unsplash.
Join our next Distinctive Discussion with a leading business journalist
We're delighted to have the business editor of one of the South West’s leading media outlets join our next Distinctive Discussion webinar in a couple of weeks.
Colette Flowerdew-Kincaid writes about property and employment for South West Business Insider, covering news stories and features on key issues for a diverse region spanning from Swindon and Gloucestershire to Cornwall.
The discussion will cover what businesses are thinking about and offer advice on stories that interest Colette and her colleagues. Attendees will also have a chance to ask us questions on the day.
You’re welcome to join us at 11am on 20 February.
Things we’ve seen
Should we still be working from home? – BBC Panorama: Do we really need to ask this question in 2025? The sensible answer is that, in many cases and with support, working from home can work. But it’s also work in progress. Swerving the knotty complexities of hybrid working, the piece gave prime airtime to ASDA boss Stuart Rose’s claim that working from home ‘isn’t proper work’. My grumpy LinkedIn response featured in Andy Barr’s popular PRmoment weekly round-up. As for the question Panorama poses: I don’t think the programme shifts the dial either way.
Things we’ve read
WPP chief feels the heat after back-to-office order – The Sunday Times: This is one of several pieces about ad firm CEO Mark Read’s memo ordering colleagues to return to their city offices for four days a week to catch our eye. It raises points on collaboration, culture, pissed off colleagues and life in a big group of companies. I’m sure some parts of the WPP group who are doing well will find these changes easier to implement (or ignore) than others.
Where ‘woke’ went wrong – Financial Times (gift link): Detailed, thoughtful piece from Henry Mance on challenges facing the progressive agenda. Highlights how what he describes as some ‘sharper’ aspects may have made the movement an easy target in ensuing culture wars.
Things we’ve heard
The science of better workplace conversations - Working It: Do you know the orientation of your conversational compass? In this Podcast, communication scientist Alison Wood Brooks shares how focussing on learning can aid persuasion. She suggests levity can be the antidote for boredom and explains how relational and informational goals should be on your conversational compass.
Things we’ve said
Golden rules for comms and PR in 2025: Communicators must work with changes in AI, digital, and social media. Katie shares tips including creating ‘snackable’ content while leveraging AI wisely to enhance productivity without sacrificing authenticity. Highlighting green achievements with data-backed claims, providing multimedia assets to support under-resourced newsrooms, and focusing on people-centric, purposeful storytelling will all help your content stand out.
Why storytelling should be part of everyone’s role: In National Storytelling Week, this recent blog looks at ways to unlock authentic and compelling content by harnessing voices and perspectives from across your team.
Our next edition lands on 7 March. If you’d like to share or discuss anything before then, please leave a comment or drop us a line.