Axios AI+DC: In the AI era, human expertise is the real edge
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Attendees around the table. Photo: Bryan Dozier for Axios
WASHINGTON – Human connection and expertise are more valuable than ever in the AI era, communications leaders said at an Expert Voices roundtable at Axios' AI+DC Summit last week.
Why it matters: The communications field is implementing AI to drive efficiency, but the person behind the prompt has relationships, knowledge and stories that are more valuable than any chatbot.
Axios' Eleanor Hawkins moderated the March 25 roundtable discussion, which was sponsored by Allison Worldwide.
Here are 5 takeaways from the conversation.
- AI has helped communications teams become more efficient as they train models to help source news stories, GoFundMe vice president of communications Sarah Peck said. "But then what has been more valuable than ever … are the expertise of these comms teams," she said, as they find the most powerful way to make pitches to people with whom they have relationships.
- Founder-led stories capture audiences, said Shernaz Daver, a comms expert who works with companies like Replit.
- Building AI agents will be part of future jobs, said Reflection AI head of corporate affairs Becky Sosnov. "Once we get past the fear of the unknown and we recognize that this is the internet, this is the future, the worst thing we could do is shut the door on it," she said. "And the most important thing we should be doing is to approach it from a perspective of knowledge, education."
- Employee education is an important part of corporate AI governance, Deloitte global head of external communications Steve Dutton said. "I think fluency is one of the big keys," he said, adding that Deloitte is focusing on educating its current workforce.
- The ability to accelerate AI will depend on whether we can get everyday people comfortable with a new technology, said Duke Energy chief communications officer Katherine Neebe.
Content from the sponsor's remarks:
In her introductory remarks, Allison Worldwide managing director Jaime Edmund-Tero emphasized the importance of human emotion in building connections with audiences today.
- Her work is focused on "trying to build deeply human stories, because at the end of the day, we're the ones putting the questions, instructing the LLMs," Edmund-Tero said.
