IoIC Conference Edinburgh Three key takeaways: AI, data and allies

Eighty delegates, eight sessions, two issue-led table discussions, and networking breaks. The IoIC’s first one-day conference in Edinburgh (pic from the conference venue of the castle above!) served up plenty of food for thought.

I was a co-host on the day and, with the depth of content and insights, it was quite difficult to boil all that down to three key takeaways, but this is what resonated with me:

1. We continue to stress about AI

From the show of hands in the room, table discussions, and the volume of related questions, it’s clear that AI continues to be a nagging issue for communicators. Speaker Gordon Johnstone of the Scottish AI Alliance was a breath of fresh air saying that choosing, or not choosing, to use AI is actually fine. ChatGPT, content creation and some design and video editing tools are very useful for communicators along with using AI to personalise and segment comms. But the risks of AI continue to grow and be real. Use a ‘human’ filter to counterbalance AI’s inherent biases, its regurgitated and re-use of inaccurate information, and the growth of copyright infringements, to ensure that AI generated content is edited to be relevant and authentic. There’s a huge sense of AI FOMO in corporate boardrooms at the moment with many leaders considering AI to be a magic bullet for business, but it’s not always going to be the answer to the issue.  Have ethical guidelines and clear boundaries, use critical thinking when you read AI content and seek out the more trusted sources on AI’s use and future. And it’s not going to take our jobs as communicators. It can’t use reason, empathy or learned experience like us.

2. Data, data, data. And once more – data

This was certainly the most-used word from the speakers and figured in a lot of the session takeaways. Data needs to inform, support and back up our ‘why’ as well as our messaging and comms activities. Broadcaster and journalist Zara Janjua, who is an advisor on the ethnicity board for NatWest, talked about using data as a foundation for authentic Equality, Diversity & Inclusivity within organisations. Having a mix of qualitative data from employee voice and quantitative people data takes EDI to the next level, making people feel valued, identifying themes and issues and shaping conversations. Also interesting to hear how the University of Glasgow successfully used data and metrics from their colleague engagement survey and listening mechanisms to influence and shape strategy and business investment in infrastructure. The power of ‘You Said/We Did’ was evident but equally as powerful was their ‘You Said/We Haven’t Yet Done – and why’.

3. Build allies

It was valuable to hear from an experienced CEO. Greg Reed, Group CEO at housing firm People For Places says that internal communication should be ‘Doing everything, everywhere, all at once’. We need to be ‘always on’. We can’t be hot with comms one day and cold the next. And if that sounds exhausting, it’s not meant to be. It’s more about finding the ways to build a community of comms allies and influencers across the business so that communication is woven into ‘how we do things’. From regular content and comms from the more natural communicators on the leadership team sharing their thoughts and observations, to really knowing which of your channels best reach and engage your people. Also enabling a robust listening and feedback culture where employees feel able to share their views (and are given the mechanisms to do so) and feel empowered and motivated to directly approach leadership.

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