AI and Its Impact on Crisis Communications

Uh oh– The hair on the back of our necks is standing up. We just asked ChatGPT to provide 10 bullet points on the principles of crisis communications, and it spit out– in less than a minute– a pretty good list. While that should be a scary development for those of us in the crisis business– how much malicious AI-driven content will we now have to contend with?– it may actually turn out to be a useful tool for us and our clients.

In fact, the list from ChatGPT is pretty close to what we tell our clients:

• Be proactive: Crisis communication should be planned and prepared well in advance of a crisis. This means identifying potential crises and developing communication strategies and protocols to manage them.
• Be honest and transparent: Honesty and transparency are essential in crisis communication. Be truthful about what has happened, what you know, and what you are doing to resolve the crisis.
• Be empathetic: Show empathy and concern for those affected by the crisis, and be sensitive to their needs and feelings.
• Be timely: Respond quickly to the crisis, provide updates regularly, and keep stakeholders informed of any new developments.
• Have a clear and consistent message: Develop a clear and consistent message that is communicated to all stakeholders, including employees, customers, the media, and the public.
• Use appropriate channels: Select the appropriate communication channels to reach your stakeholders, such as social media, email, press releases, or in-person meetings.
• Coordinate with key stakeholders: Coordinate with key stakeholders, including government agencies, regulators, and other organizations that may be involved in the crisis response.
• Train your team: Train your crisis communication team in advance and ensure they are familiar with the communication plan, message, and channels to be used during the crisis.
• Monitor and adapt: Monitor the situation closely and be prepared to adapt your communication strategy as the crisis evolves.
• Evaluate and learn: After the crisis is over, evaluate your communication strategy and identify any areas for improvement. Use this experience to update your crisis communication plan and make sure you are better prepared for the next crisis.

Here’s one reason why this may be helfpul: We would rather not spend our clients’ money (or our time) on the basics. What we do want to spend time on is helping to examine the client’s risk, anticipate threats to its reputation, help develop training sessions and craft key messaging, all from the perspective of seasoned, experienced crisis professionals.

We do see a place for AI in our crisis practice, working with clients to understand how best to use AI services like ChatGPT. We’re happy to get them started with the basics and use our expertise to its best advantage. This isn’t to say we aren’t still a little worried–but that keeps us on our toes.