The case for hyper-targeted use of AI in government comms

Communicators spend a great deal of time perfecting effective messaging to target audiences. Whether we write for an external or internal demographic, they will invariably be made up of diverse individuals or groups with varying needs, priorities, and digital habits.

AI's rapid maturation is propelling us to identify and map out its appropriate role within our communications tool kit. Part of this process could involve using AI in a hyper-targeted manner.

AI as a specialist, not a generalist

Perhaps what's most obviously understood about AI use is the interface and command prompts. Typically, we'd be using a web dialogue box (text field) or voice-enabled interface.

We instruct the AI with specific prompts and give it ample context to obtain the desired results we seek. This very method depicts the AI generation process as a specialized task. It is one of many iterative steps. After a set of results are rendered, you often review, choose what works and refine your prompts further.

What hyper-targeted entails

For public sector communicators, the precise yet deconstructed nature of the AI generation process is where we can establish guidance for its use at a granular level.

Prompts should be intentional and focused on very specific tasks, such as:

• Drafting initial frameworks from specific source materials

• Analyzing your own draft to improve it based on a set of nuanced criteria

• Converting technical jargon into plain language for broader accessibility

We are not asking it to prepare a fulsome report or story. We are asking AI to help facilitate some of our specific tasks to be time-efficient.

Takeaway

Rather than viewing AI as a replacement for complex human tasks and judgment, we should leverage it as a high-velocity assistant for the granular, time-consuming tasks that precede the final polished work.

Are you experimenting with AI generation in comms? Would be keen to hear how it's helped with your work.