Earlier this year, BWF reviewed the possibilities and the pitfalls surrounding ChatGPT and other generative AI programs available on the open market.
Our detailed discussion of do’s and don’ts can be found here, and the advice therein still stands as both practical and important.
Since that post a few short months ago, much has already changed in the world of content marketing around the use of generative AI. The pace of change is, if anything, accelerating. This starts with continuously expanding usage among both for-profit companies and nonprofit organizations.
Deloitte Digital released a survey earlier this month that shows that usage in 2024 is likely to skyrocket. While only 26 percent of UK-based respondents are currently using the technology, an additional 45 percent plan to do so by the end of the next calendar year. Similar numbers have been reported in the United States. A July study conducted by Forbes showed that 67 percent of enterprises surveyed are currently adding generative AI into an overall AI strategy.
All of this comes at a time when OpenAI has released ChatGPT-4, its most advanced system to date. The company’s CEO Sam Altman is on the record as seeking what he calls “superintelligence” and more investment dollars from Microsoft. An arms race of sorts is exploding the market, with competitors like Einstein from Salesforce available within the CRM.
So how does this growth project into dollars and cents? Bloomberg Intelligence believes that the current $40 billion market in generative AI will grow to $1.3 trillion by the end of 2033. Its astonishing growth all but ensures that everything about the way we conduct communications and marketing will be completely different in five years, never mind 10.
So, how to get ready for this inevitable wave of change if you are a nonprofit, college, university, or healthcare foundation communications office? Here are four steps you can take today to start preparing for 2024 and beyond.
1. If you haven’t already, begin developing standards and procedures for its use now.
Questions to ponder include:
- Who on the communications team can—and should—use generative AI?
- What work products are applicable for use and which work products are completely out of bounds for AI?
- Who controls for hallucinations and other AI-generated errors and omissions?
In today’s climate, having an AI plan is just as important as having a crisis communications plan. If you are going to use generative AI as part of your content marketing strategy, you need to be sure to control for unintended consequences and ensure procedures are in place to reduce liability and enhance creativity.
2. Communications and marketing operations should begin strategizing with their in-house operations and business intelligence operations to determine how data is used and how it is protected when using AI large language models in data sets.
It’s critical that no personably identifiable information be used when using generative AI. We are already seeing court filings around copyright and IP infringement through the use of generative AI, and more are sure to follow. Many GAI providers, including OpenAI and GitHub, are now providing customers with copyright and other forms of IP protection. You should investigate to make sure your organization is secure.
3. Create procedures to guard against accidental disclosures of sensitive information.
Healthcare and fundraising operations are bound by privacy laws that are both non-negotiable and often at risk in a generative AI context.
HIPAA guidelines require you to remove 18 specific patient identifiers, but it also goes further, requiring the user to know that information won’t be combined with other information to re-identify patients. Because AI is learning on the job, there is no certainty that patients won’t be re-identified through the process. So, using GAI can be a violation. Rely on your general counsel for guidance in all cases.
4. When it becomes available—and all indications it will in 2024—give serious thought to buying business insurance that covers AI-related issues, including AI hallucinations.
Forbes forecasts a niche market for this kind of coverage at first but believes it will become widely available in the next few years.
A fifth step would be to simply limit your use of GAI. There is already discussion in PRSA circles about highlighting human-created content as the industry gold standard. Be judicious in your use of the technology and ensure that it enhances, rather than detracts from, your creative work.
Finally, consult with experts in the field. This is new terrain for everyone in the communications and marketing industry, and working with experts in artificial intelligence and business intelligence will be increasingly necessary for everyone in communications work—from content marketers, digital strategists, editors, and videographers, all the way to the C suite.
At BWF, we will continue to stay current on the latest trends in artificial intelligence and all its uses in the nonprofit world—from fundraising to predictive analytics and content generation.
Reach out to BWF today for the expertise you trust in fundraising AI and every aspect of nonprofit work. Please reach out to Jay Wilson, Senior Vice President, Strategic Communications, at jwilson@bwf.com. It’s a privilege to help.
This blog was written without the use of generative AI.
