We are told, "AI won't take your job." Instead, "Someone who knows how to use AI will take your job."

Tell that to the scores of copywriters who have already lost their jobs to generative AI. With ChatGPT and its competitors in the frontier LLM space being used to write more than anything else, agencies and organizations are figuring out how to craft prompts that turn out decent copy. Some copywriters are figuring out how to stay relevant, though, including taking gigs improving the copy these AI tools churn out.

In this short midweek episode, Neville and Shel examine these trends and wonder what they mean for other communication jobs.
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The post FIR #413: AI Is Coming for Copywriters appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

In this episode, Chip and Gini discuss the importance of ensuring that no one in an agency, including owners and key employees, is too indispensable to take time off.
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The post ALP 233: Building an agency culture where everyone can take time off appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

You work for one of the biggest consulting firms in the world. You've been told that taking a voluntary separation package from the company is in your best interest. When you agree (not that you had much choice), you're asked to sign an agreement that not only won't you disparage the company, but you'll use the language provided to you to let your colleagues know why you're leaving (nothing bad about the company) and how great your time there has been. With more than 330,000 employees in this company, won't anybody think identical farewell messages from multiple employees find this a bit suspicious? That's what happened at PwC, our lead topic in this monthly long-form FIR episode for June 2024.

Also in this episode: Megainfluencers charge as much as $1.5 million for a single post. Could you do better with a bunch of mico and nanoinfluencers? New studies are out from Deloitte and McKinsey on the state of AI in the workplace. AI avatars and coworkers are starting to show up in some companies as the tools to create them get easier to deploy. Publishers worldwide have been hit by Facebook deleting posts that have been inaccurately identified as spam. And your favorite brand that showed such commitment to that social cause a few years ago? They don't care about being "woke" anymore.

Dan York is focused on policy in his Tech Report, looking at age verification laws that are popping up all over the place, Canada imposing a tax on streaming services (after a less-than-optimal experience with a link tax), and a U.S. Supreme Court Decision is due about content moderation.
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The post FIR #412: Don’t Let the Door Hit You on Your Way Out appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Several studies seem to suggest that a small cadre of "supersharers" was responsible for spreading 80 percent of "fake news" on X (formerly Twitter) in 2020. Further, by removing these supersharers from the platforms they use to spread misinformation and disinformation, the number of lies appearing on the social network plummeted. What's more, another study found that most people aren't swayed by online misinformation and disinformation. As a result, all the panic about online misinformation and disinformation could be overblown.

Or not. In this short midweek episode, Neville and Shel examine the data and what's missing to reach a conclusion about communicators' role in addressing what's true and what's not online.
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The post FIR #411: Are We Unnecessarily Panicked About Online Disinformation? appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Don’t sugarcoat it when writing up a job description or interviewing potential new hires – painting a rosy picture that doesn’t match reality will only cause you headaches down the road.
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The post ALP 232: Setting honest expectations for your agency employees from the start appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

PRovoke Media broke a story about at least 11 fake profiles of people who listed a PR recruitment firm as their employers. LinkedIn removed them as fakes—an action with which the business-centric social network is all too familiar. So far, no other media outlets seem interested in the story. Still, Neville and Shel wonder about the motivation behind the profiles -- under other circumstances, fake profiles can easily be used for illicit purposes -- and the amount of effort organizations will need to take to ensure profiles listing them as employers are legitimate.
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The post FIR #410: Who’s Behind All Those Fake LinkedIn Profiles? appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Despite the excitement over the possibilities generative AI provides, it was easy to predict that doubters would insist it's just a fad -- the same naysaying we heard about email, the web, social media, podcasting, live streaming, and a host of other digital technologies. In this case, the reports conflict with other research showing rapid adoption, even if we're not anywhere close to widespread consumer use of gen AI tools, which nobody expects after only 18 months since ChatGPT 3.5 was unveiled. In this short midweek episode, Neville and Shel compare the reports and look at the potential for communicators to fall behind with yet another important technology.
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The post FIR #409: Just Another Fad appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Gen Z employees tend to have a different (not worse!) approach to their jobs than the older generations do. Which means that as an owner, you need to evolve the way you communicate with and manage them.
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The post ALP 231: Agencies need to adapt to effectively manage Gen Z employees appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.