Will AI Replace Communicators? Why We Should Aim to Supercharge, Not Replace, Human-Centered Communication
As artificial intelligence continues to transform industries, there’s growing concern about which jobs will be most vulnerable to automation. At the 2024 Workplace Law Forum, during my keynote on Artificial Intelligence and the Workforce of Today and Tomorrow, I discussed how AI evolved from the traditional rules-based systems to the brain-inspired models we see today. This shift has made AI, particularly generative AI (GenAI), incredibly powerful at tasks like software coding—allowing it to learn from vast datasets and generate highly accurate results. If you’re interested in diving deeper into this evolution and understanding why GenAI excels in these areas, you can find accessible explanations in my course, right here on Insights.
After the keynote, numerous attendees asked me questions. One of those questions stood out, which was: Could AI eventually replace communicators? While it’s uncertain what the future holds, I sincerely hope we don't allow that to happen. If AI takes over communication roles completely, we risk losing the trust that makes human interaction meaningful, along with a vital part of our humanity. Instead, I believe AI will best serve us by enhancing, not replacing, human communicators.
The Disruption Across Industries
We are already seeing how generative AI has taken fields like software engineering by storm (see ). AI models like GPT-4 can learn vast amounts of information from platforms such as Stack Overflow or GitHub, where technical tasks like code generation and debugging are often repetitive and rule-based. This makes them particularly vulnerable to AI-driven automation. I explained this in my talk:
“Any task that involves generating or reproducing variations of syntax-based language or concepts, requiring technical accuracy and drawing from vast datasets, is ripe for disruption by generative AI.”
But when it comes to communications—whether it’s internal business memos or external marketing campaigns—the equation is different.
The Human Element in Communication
Communications, at its core, is about trust and relationship building. Whether we’re talking about a carefully crafted speech or a heartfelt message to customers, people can often tell the difference between something written by a person and something produced by AI. In my conversation with a communications professional from my speaking engagement, I emphasized that while AI is incredible at generating content, if people start to believe that everything they consume is AI-generated, trust erodes.
For example, many businesses use AI to create marketing copy or even press releases. It’s fast, it’s scalable, and often, it’s technically accurate. However, if all communication becomes impersonal and machine-like, it loses the emotional connection. Trust, which is central to any communication, could be diminished.
AI as a Writing Partner, Not a Replacement
Instead of viewing AI as a replacement for communicators, I believe it should be seen as a tool for enhancing human capability. This is where AI really shines—it helps with structure, grammar, and style while leaving the essence of the message to the human communicator.
In fact, I will share a personal story about my time working on my PhD dissertation. One of my committee members told me that I was one of the best public presenters he had ever met, but I was one of the poorer writers that he had worked with (he was and is SUCH a kind and caring person, so he was not trying to being mean). He suggested I use computational techniques to help structure my writing better. This was long before the advent of generative AI, and at the time, we didn’t have tools to help me write more effectively. Now, I use GenAI to assist in structuring and refining my work—not to replace my voice, but to improve clarity and organization.
Generative AI can act as a “supercharged” assistant. It can offer suggestions, improve clarity, and even help generate ideas, but the message, tone, and emotional core should still be driven by humans. This ensures that communication remains authentic and trustworthy.
Which Tasks Can Be Supercharged?
So, what tasks in communications are ripe for AI enhancement? Consider these areas:
Drafting and Editing: AI tools can help streamline the drafting process by providing suggestions on sentence structure, tone, and grammar. Tools like Grammarly or even generative AI models like GPT can help you write faster without sacrificing quality.
Content Personalization: AI is excellent at analyzing large datasets to help you understand audience preferences. It can personalize communications at scale, crafting messages that resonate with specific demographics based on data.
Automating Routine Communications: Routine tasks like scheduling social media posts or generating basic reports can easily be automated with AI, freeing up more time for creative tasks.
What Should Stay Human?
While AI can enhance many aspects of communication, there are certain tasks that, I believe, should remain human-driven:
Strategy, Ideas, and Content: The core ideas, content, and overall message should come from humans. AI can help organize or polish content, but the unique perspective and insights—elements that differentiate one communicator from another—should be created by humans to ensure the message is genuine. (You can use GenAI to help give feedback to your thoughts!)
Building Trust: Ultimately, trust comes from human connections. Whether it’s a speech or a crisis management response, people want to feel like there’s a human on the other end who understands their concerns and can relate to them.
Fact-Checking: Generative AI models are not always reliable for factual accuracy. They can “hallucinate” or generate information that sounds correct but isn’t. Fact-checking is critical and should remain a human responsibility to ensure truth and accuracy.
Looking Ahead
Communications professionals need to start considering what aspects of their jobs can be supercharged with AI and which aspects require a human touch. AI can enhance productivity and efficiency, but it will never fully replace the emotional intelligence that is central to human interaction. Moving forward, professionals will need to learn how to integrate AI into their workflows without sacrificing the trust and authenticity that make communication effective.
In this new AI era, those who embrace AI as a partner, not a replacement, will not only survive but thrive. The key is to use AI to amplify your unique skills and insights, not replace them.
Author’s Note:
The ideas and content in these articles come directly from me, but I do engage in conversations with AI to get feedback on my thoughts before producing the final pieces. While AI helps me refine the structure and flow, all the insights and ideas are my own. These articles are NOT robo-generated.
 | A guest post by
|