Concerns Over Artificial Intelligence on the Rise for Communications Professionals

 AI Makes Changes to the Communications Workforce

 Popular AI making headlines today are language based models of GPT that generate text from recived input. According to Pew Research Center, 58% of U.S. adults are familiar with ChatGPT, but few have actually tried the software. Users of ChatGPt rage from those looking for entertainment or to learn a new skill. While 4/10 Americans found it useful, concerns around AI technology in the communications field are on the rise. 

 

AI Effects on Copywriters

    One industry reacting quickly to rising popularity of AI is the copy writing workforce. Communications professionals that write blog posts, webpage articles, or even news stories fear what AI means for their profession. One academic journal looks at concerns professionals have including the technological, occupational, and economic factors and whether AI will lead to substitution, creation or alteration of jobs. The author considers these categories, and how they will change the copyrighting profession to include managing creative exhaustion or The author describes creative exhaustion as "the inability to continue generating attractive (from a consumer point-of-view) advertising text on one’s own" (Ingora)  While further reaserch is necessary, Ingora suggest that GPT-3 systems for automation of copy-writing will have an uneven effect of the workforce based on skill.

AI Changes to Journalism 

 In addition, AI has worked it’s way into news rooms over the years with both benefits and shortcomings besing discussed by researchers as they try to measure the impact of possible ethical dilemmas. One 2022 article examines a series of interviews conducted in two rounds to estimate the outcome of AI in the media industry. While the interviewees agreed that AI will help journalist save time and increase productivity, their feedback also supported the need for training on the use of AI tools and supervision over AI processes. Noain-Sánchez states, 

“despite the many advantages AI provides to journalism, the phenomenon should be approached through the balance between the business perspective (profitability) and the human perspective (social and perceptive)”

Solution to AI in the Workforce

A code of ethics for operating AI in professional realm should be devised to adear to professional standard of journalism. According to Noain-Sánchez, all parts of AI design and application should fall inline with ethical practices In order to maintain quality standards of journalism, professionals can not allow the principles that they uphold to erode due to poor AI output or lack of training. 

 

References 

 

Iorga, D. (2022). Let me write that for you: Prospects concerning the impact of GPT-3 on the copywriting workforce.

 Journal of Comparative Research in Anthropology & Sociology, 13(1), 17–30. 

Vogels, E. A. (2023, May 24). A majority of Americans have heard of CHATGPT, but few have tried it themselves.

 Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/05/24/a-majority-of-americans-have-heard-of-chatgpt-but-few-have-tried-it-themselves/

Noain-Sánchez, A. (2022). Addressing the Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Journalism: the perception of experts,

 journalists and academics. Communication & Society, 35(3), 105–121. https://doi-org.ezproxy.snhu.edu/10.15581/003.35.3.105-121