Each week we’ll gather headlines and tips to keep you current with how generative AI affects PR and the world at large. If you have ideas on how to improve the newsletter, let us know!

What You Should Know

Does Your Brand Need a Chatbot?

Last week, the Washington Post launched its Ask the Post AI chatbot, a quick way for readers to find answers to their questions based on the Post’s reporting. Chatbots are taking off in the business world, too. One survey showed that 71% of small businesses and 66% of mid-size businesses either have chatbots or plan to implement one. Morgan Stanley recently expanded the use of AskResearchGPT, its internal tool that lets users source answers from all of the company’s research. 

But does every brand need a chatbot? It depends on your objectives and audience needs, and it doesn’t necessarily need to be an expensive investment. 

If you handle the same questions over and over, whether from customers or colleagues, a custom GPT with a repository of approved information can offer immediate responses. Other companies are using chatbots to qualify leads by engaging potential customers in real-time conversations and guiding them through the sales funnel. 

But chatbots aren’t a prerequisite for modern brand success. Even tech titans like Meta, which abandoned its celebrity chatbots, have found other ways to use AI. The key is identifying where AI truly adds value to your specific operations and audience needs, like content creation or workflow automation. Communicators are often at the helm of AI implementation, and the most successful are guiding their organizations toward meaningful AI adoption that enhances human capabilities rather than simply chasing a trend.

Elsewhere …

• PODCAST: AI Is Changing Financial Advising Faster Than Anyone Predicted
• 4 Ways AI Is Improving Healthcare, According to a Large Medical Group
• COP29: Artificial Intelligence Can Help Develop Climate-Resistant Crops for Africa
• IBM Report Shows Executives’ Desire for AI to Support Sustainability
• Amazon Offers Free Computing Power to AI Researchers, Aiming to Challenge Nvidia

Tips and Tricks

 How to use your voice … whether you have voice mode or not

What’s happening: ChatGPT and Claude have joined Siri, Alexa, and a host of other AI platforms that have voice-enabled mobile apps, so you can prompt without typing. 

ChatGPT’s desktop app also includes Advanced Voice Mode, but Claude’s desktop app, released on Friday, does not include dictation capabilities. Want to be able to dictate anyway, including on the web versions of those sites? It’s possible. 

How it works: This is an old-school hack: accessibility shortcuts. On a PC, hit the Windows logo key + H, or select the mic button, to dictate whenever you’re in a text box. On a Mac, go to System Settings, click Keyboard in the sidebar, then see the text below Dictation (which must be enabled).

Be aware: ChatGPT’s desktop app has a couple of disclaimers. The macOS desktop app is only available for macOS 14+ with Apple Silicon chips (M1 or better). The Windows desktop app is available as an “early version” and is only available to ChatGPT Plus, Team, Enterprise, and Edu users.

Quote of the Week

“Too much of the burden has been put on workers to figure out how to use AI. To ensure adoption of the technology, it’s important that leaders not only train workers, but encourage employees to talk about it and experiment with AI out in the open.”

— Christina Janzer, Senior VP of Research and Analytics at Slack, in a statement to Axios about Slack’s global survey on AI adoption 

How Was This Newsletter?