How much of a revolution are policy writers facing? All position papers, briefings, communications are the output of conversations, bargaining and negotiations with members, policy makers, like minded allies. So, how are policy officers and communications teams being affected by ChatGPT or Jasper?
Online tools to help us hone our writing are nothing new. For years, we have been using OnlineUtility.org to view and adapt readability and web plug ins like Yoast to add some SEO umph to make our sales pages stand out on Google. And admit it you’ve used Grammarly too – haven’t you. Digital marketing is flooded with apps and ad-ons that help us refine our external writing.
So, for policy writing? There is no doubt that those people who write with AI tools will out do those who choose to ignore it. So, what can ChatGPT or Jasper bring to the party? Not the nifty use of phrasing like this (not yet anyway).
My initial thoughts – these will change as AI develops, as it is sure to do. Consider some of the basics about the writing process. We commonly go through four stages when we pump out a policy paper – 1. Gather, 2. Draft, 3. Edit and 4. Proof.
You can save a lot of time by generating an outline to your paper, blog, press release. Careful though – you ask ChatGPT to write a press release about your sector, it’ll generate one – but you need to check sources. 30% of Wiki knowledge is plain wrong.
The first two stages (gather, draft) require human negotiating, conversations, influencing with people. AI can’t do this quite yet and when it gets to that – we really won’t be needing governments, policy makers and EU institutions anymore. But until then you still need to talk – you can’t yet AI generate your conversations. Although Google’s strangely named “SupernormalAI” can transcribe any online meeting – but so can other tools like Otter.ai. You still need the power of the human bonce to extract, summarise and articulate decisions.
What about editing and fine tuning your texts? We spend a lot of time training policy and communications officers to adapt texts for different target audiences, de-fang the jargon, search for wording that hits the precise nuances of what we are advocating. AI can’t do this (yet). We still need each other to agree our positions to the outside world. Brussels is a ‘neck up’ business and it’s based on building relationships for influence.
Which brings me onto to Formative Communications. Our written communication training programmes are more than about dotting the ‘i’s and using correct grammar. Writing is a reflection of thinking. Clear writing indicates a clarity of purpose. Organisations often fail to communicate because they are unable to manage the internal thinking. In short, they don’t know what they want to say.
This is where we come in. We help teams to figure out their communication strategy and the messages to convey for their audiences. We build internal thinking through team building activities, influencing and joint agreements. Our training courses include message development, writing with impact, internal management, negotiations and building relationships for influence.
We bring your teams together to brainstorm, try out new and crazy communication ideas and – to have some fun too. We have a network of expert trainers communicators, journalists, management consultants to help you on the way. And yes – we are adding modules on how to use AI for writing.
Write to us at info@formativecoms.com with your communications problems. Let’s figure it out.
