We got together over a several sessions virtually having seen a real gap in helpful ethical advice in this space. Obviously it will come and there will be reams of official guidance and charters at some point but we knew that our members needed something sooner.
We saw particularly last year an increasing rush to adopt AI tools for a communication purposes. As a human-centred profession we felt we had a role in setting out principles and standards by which we should seek to apply ethical, human-led adoption of AI, either for communication purposes or for how it is implemented within the workforce.
There are huge opportunities for how we can use AI, particularly generative AI, but how do we do it where we keep the principles of good internal communication at heart of it? And how do we take that forward?
Being part of the taskforce and having the time and space to think about this topic has been one of the most rewarding pieces of work I've done with the IoIC – even though it made my brain hurt every time I thought about it – cos it’s big stuff and it’s important stuff.
We were very conscious that we come at this, obviously, from an IC point of view. We definitely had some people in the room who were very adept at using technology, but we're not technology experts. However, we do have a very singular point of view in organisations about how some of these things land, how they're likely to be used and the impact they like to have on people.
There are clearly concerns about how AI can potentially be used, particularly with some of the current debate about misinformation and some of the negative uses of generative AI in particular. But what is clear that this train it is already in motion and we’re not going to stop it - so the most useful thing we can do is offer suggestions and guidance as to how we use AI well.
As our charter says, our underlying assumption must be that we will always use AI for good. And we will always use AI alongside all of those tools which are vital in a profession that is, and will remain, human centric.
But as we share this charter with our members and other audiences, one thing is abundantly clear. This is and must remain a living document. The pace of change in this area is so fast that it would be a mistake to launch this guide never to return. And as much as the Taskforce will reconvene and review it every so often, it will be the contribution of the whole IC community in keeping this document up to date and relevant that will ensure it remains useful.
