From my talk organized by the University of Johannesburg. Talking points: - Where did AI come from, where is it going? - AI's impact and influence - AI & PR/Communication - AI & Africa - Outlook

1. The Role of Artificial
Intelligence (AI) in
Communication
This presentation introduces AI, its history, importance, and potential effects on
communication and PR.
Head of Media Studies, Thammasat University, Bangkok, Thailand
Sascha H. Funk

3. The Role of Artificial
Intelligence (AI) in
Communication
Artificial intelligence or AI refers to the simulation of human
intelligence in machines that are programmed to think like humans
and mimic their actions. AI plays an increasingly important role in
communication as it enables more natural interactions between
humans and machines. Some key applications of AI in
communication include chatbots, voice assistants, and AI-enabled
software that can respond to customers in natural language.

4. History of AI research since 1950s. Recent
advances in computing power and data.
AI now applied across industries.

5. AI developments since 2020

6. Importance and Impact of AI
AI analyzes data and patterns in
ways humans can't
AI can process large amounts of data and
identify complex patterns that humans
would miss
AI chatbots automate customer
service
AI chatbots can understand user questions
and provide answers 24/7 without human
agents
AI automates tasks like translation
freeing humans for strategic work
AI can translate text and speech between
languages freeing up human translators to
focus on strategic initiatives
In summary, AI is transforming communication through advanced
data analysis, automation of routine tasks, and personalization.

7. AI's Impact on Public Relations
AI monitors news and
social media
AI uses natural language
processing to analyze news
articles and social media posts
to identify trends, risks,
opportunities
AI generates content
quickly
AI can generate press releases,
articles, social media posts, and
other content in seconds based
on data and templates
AI tracks campaign
performance
AI analytics tools can track
website traffic, social media
engagement, press mentions
to optimize PR campaigns
Chatbots engage with the
public
AI chatbots can have natural
conversations to answer
common questions from the
public and media 24/7
AI is transforming public relations by automating monitoring, content creation,
and engagement while providing data-driven insights to optimize campaigns.

8. The Role of AI in Africa
AI adoption in Africa rising
steadily
More African countries
adopting AI across sectors like
healthcare, agriculture,
education
Huge potential for AI in
Africa
AI can help solve major
challenges in healthcare,
agriculture, education
But significant challenges
remain
Lack of data, infrastructure,
skills are barriers to AI adoption
Responsible AI is key
Africa must develop AI
responsibly and ethically to
maximize benefits
While AI adoption is increasing in Africa, responsible development
is critical to overcoming challenges and realizing the full potential.

9. Pitfalls of AI
Algorithmic bias
AI systems can perpetuate
harmful biases if the training
data is biased.
Job disruption
AI automation may disrupt jobs
and displace workers lacking
new skills.
Manipulated media
AI can generate fake
audio/video media to spread
misinformation.
Inequality
Benefits of AI may accrue more
to privileged groups, amplifying
inequality.
Responsible and ethical AI development is critical to
mitigate risks and ensure benefits are shared by all.

10. Conclusion: AI's Transformative Potential
and Need for Thoughtful Development
AI has enabled many new
technologies and applications
AI algorithms power technologies like image
recognition, language translation, and
recommendation systems that benefit
society.
AI's capabilities continue to grow
rapidly
The performance of AI systems improves
exponentially as more data and compute
power become available.
But AI development requires
thoughtful governance
As AI becomes more capable, we must
ensure it aligns with ethical principles
through research and thoughtful policies.
AI holds tremendous potential to transform our lives, but its development
and use should thoughtfully balance capabilities and risks.

11. The Medium Is
The Message.
Marshall McLuhan's renowned adage "the medium is the
message" highlights how the form of a medium can have an
effect on the impact and meaning of the communication it
conveys. This notion applies to AI as well, as the algorithms
and interfaces with which AI communicates will inherently
influence its dialogue and thus modify the significance of its
exchanges.
Similarly to the way in which television carries certain visual
and informational predispositions, AI is equipped with built-
in biases encoded in its programming and design.

12. "AI is the new electricity"
- ANDREW NG, STANFORD UNIVERSITY

13. https://shorturl.at/lKVW1
now I want to
hear from you.
@sayfun
You've heard from me.
sascha-f@tu.ac.th
@ajsascha
https://saschafunk.com
https://linkedin.com/in/saschafunk

14. - Appendix -

15. The Role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Communication
Unconscious bias
Algorithms can reinforce societal biases if
the training data reflects those biases.
Discrimination
BIased algorithms can lead to unfair
discrimination against marginalized groups.
Lack of transparency
The 'black box' nature of AI can obscure
unfair biases.
Including diverse perspectives in designing algorithms can help mitigate risks of bias.

16. Importance and Impact of AI
Analyze data and patterns
AI can identify insights and trends that
humans may miss
Automate communication
AI chatbots provide instant, 24/7 customer
service
Personalize content
AI can tailor communications and marketing
to each user
AI enhances communication through data analysis, automation, and personalization

17. Importance and Impact of AI
Analyze Complex Data
AI systems can process large volumes of
data and identify complex patterns that
humans may miss.
Gain New Insights
The insights from AI data analysis can reveal
new opportunities and solutions for
improving communications.
Automate Tasks
AI can take over repetitive communication
tasks, freeing up humans for more creative
and strategic work.
In summary, AI is transforming communication by enabling deeper data
analysis, surfacing impactful insights, and automating tedious tasks.

18. The Role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Communication
AI automates tasks
AI can take over repetitive tasks, freeing up
human workers
AI disrupts jobs
As tasks are automated by AI, some jobs
may no longer be necessary
AI enables deception
AI can generate hyper-personalized content
that manipulates opinions
While AI brings many benefits, ethical principles are
needed to prevent misuse and adapt to societal changes.

19. The Role of AI in Communication
Reducing manual work
AI automates repetitive and time-
consuming tasks like data entry and
document review
Uncovering insights
AI analyzes large amounts of data to uncover
patterns and insights that would be difficult
for humans to find
Improving customer service
AI chatbots and virtual assistants provide
quick customer support 24/7
AI is transforming how businesses operate and engage with
customers across industries through automation and data analysis.

20. AI's Impact on Public Relations
Monitor trends
AI can monitor news and social
media to identify trends, risks,
and opportunities for brands
Generate content
AI writing tools can generate
press releases, website content,
and social posts quickly
Track performance
AI can track campaign
performance and suggest
improvements in real-time
Engage audiences
Chatbots can engage with the
public and respond to common
questions automatically
AI has many applications in public relations that can help brands
be more efficient and effective in their communications.

21. Caution that AI could amplify "fake news" or
manipulated media if not thoughtfully
implemented. PR professionals need awareness.
AI can enable creation and
spread of fake content
Sophisticated AI techniques like
generative adversarial networks
and text generation models can
create fake images, videos and
text that look authentic.
AI tools can manipulate
media to distort truth
Tools like deepfakes allow
altering of images, videos and
audio to portray events and
speech that did not occur.
AI needs oversight to
maintain integrity
Without proper governance and
controls, AI could automate and
amplify disinformation
campaigns.
PR professionals should stay vigilant about potential misuse of AI for manipulating
public opinion and work to establish ethical norms for use of these technologies.

22. The Future of AI in Africa
AI adoption rising in Africa
AI adoption is increasing steadily across
sectors in Africa and expected to grow
significantly in coming years
Key areas for AI in Africa
Major areas where AI could benefit Africa
include healthcare, agriculture, education,
smart cities, and wildlife conservation
Challenges to address
Challenges like data availability,
infrastructure, skills gaps, and responsible AI
practices need to be addressed for
successful AI adoption in Africa
With proper governance and development, AI has immense potential to accelerate
progress across sectors in Africa by leapfrogging traditional development barriers.

23. The Role of Artificial
Intelligence (AI) in
Communication
While AI holds great promise for improving our lives, we must
recognize that it could also reinforce social inequalities without
careful oversight. If only tech elites can access or benefit from
advanced AI, it may widen the gap between rich and poor.

24. The Role of AI in Customer Service
Automation
AI chatbots can automate repetitive
customer service tasks like answering FAQs
24/7 Availability
Chatbots are available 24/7 unlike human
agents
Natural Language Processing
Chatbots can understand natural language
and have conversations
AI chatbots enhance customer service by automating repetitive tasks,
providing 24/7 availability, and understanding natural language.

25. The Role of AI in Communication
Automating translation
AI can automatically translate documents
and communications between languages
saving time and costs.
Automating transcription
AI speech recognition can transcribe audio
content like meetings and interviews into
text.
Automating content generation
AI can generate initial drafts of content like
reports, articles and social media posts.
By automating repetitive communication tasks, AI
enables humans to focus on high-value strategic work.

26. How AI Boosts Relevance and Personalization
Targeted messaging
AI can analyze user data to determine
interests and preferences in order to deliver
more personalized and relevant marketing
messages.
Predictive analytics
AI can study past interactions and responses
to forecast future behaviors and trends to
optimize marketing campaigns.
Dynamic content
AI allows for dynamic and real-time
adjustments to messaging and creative
based on individual user data and responses.
By leveraging AI and machine learning, marketers can take personalization
and relevance to the next level to boost engagement and ROI.

27. AI's Impact on Public Relations
Artificial intelligence can analyze massive amounts of news articles and social
media posts to detect emerging trends, risks, and opportunities for brands and
organizations. This allows PR professionals to identify potential reputational
threats before they escalate and capitalize on viral moments.

28. AI Creates Content Quickly and Easily
AI can generate content quickly
AI tools like ChatGPT can produce press
releases, website content, blog posts, social
media captions, and more in a fraction of the
time it would take to write manually.
AI can adapt content for different
formats
The same AI-generated content can be
repurposed across press releases, website
copy, social posts, etc. by tweaking it to fit
each format.
AI takes care of rote writing tasks
AI allows writers to focus on big picture
strategy and messaging instead of grinding
through repetitive content creation.
AI writing tools allow communicators to produce a
high volume of quality, customized content at scale.

29. The Role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Communication
AI can enable natural conversational
abilities in chatbots
AI techniques like natural language
processing allow chatbots to understand
nuances in human communication and
respond more naturally
AI can analyze tone and sentiment in
communications
AI can detect emotions and subtle
meanings in text and voice communications
between people
AI can generate human-like content
Advanced AI models like GPT-3 can generate
remarkably human-like text, audio, and
video content
In summary, AI has diverse applications in improving and enabling more
natural and insightful communications between humans and machines.

30. Background of AI
Origins of AI research
AI research began in the 1950s with a focus
on games and theorem proving.
Early enthusiasm and funding
There was a lot of early enthusiasm and
funding for AI in the 1960s and 1970s.
First AI winter
When early AI systems failed to live up to
expectations, funding dried up leading to
the first AI winter in the 1970s.
AI research has experienced ups and downs over the decades, but
recent advances are generating renewed excitement in the field.

31. Impact of AI in Communication
AI transforming communication
AI is being used for natural language processing,
allowing for more natural human-computer
interactions.
AI assisting public relations
AI can analyze data to identify trends and insights
to inform PR strategies.
AI is having a major impact on communication and public relations by
enabling more natural interactions and providing data-driven insights.

32. AI's Impact on
Public Relations
AI is rapidly transforming the public relations landscape by
automating tasks like media monitoring, content creation, and
data analysis. This allows PR professionals to focus on more
strategic initiatives and build deeper relationships with
stakeholders.

33. How AI Will Change Communication
AI assistants can help improve
communication
AI chatbots provide 24/7 customer service
and sales assistance
AI enables hyper-personalized
communication
AI can analyze data to recommend content
tailored to each user
AI translates across languages in real
time
Real-time voice translation breaks down
language barriers
AI is transforming communication by automating conversations,
personalizing experiences, and enabling seamless translation.

34. Potential Pitfalls of AI in Communication
Tech addiction
Over-reliance on technology can make
people dependent and reduce human
interactions.
Filter bubbles
AI can reinforce biases and create echo
chambers by showing people information
aligned with their existing views.
Misinformation
AI generated fake content can spread
misinformation quickly on social media.
While AI brings many benefits, we must thoughtfully consider its risks and
mitigate potential downsides through education, regulation, and ethical codes.

35. AI and Content Creation
Artificial intelligence (AI) is playing an increasingly important role in
generating content. AI algorithms can analyze data and content trends to
produce new text, images, audio and video. This has major implications for
communication as AI takes on more creative responsibilities traditionally
performed by humans.

36. Will AI improve or worsen communication?
Better communication
AI can analyze data to improve targeting and
personalization of messages
Worse communication
Over-reliance on AI for communication can
reduce human interaction
More accessible communication
AI can help break down language barriers
and assist people with disabilities
AI will likely have both positive and negative impacts
on communication. Careful implementation is key.

37. The Role of Artificial Intelligence
(AI) in Communication
AI and communication might be a faustian bargain because there are
risks and benefits to using AI in communication. On one hand, AI can
help improve communication by providing more tailored messages and
analyzing conversations. However, it also raises concerns around data
privacy, security, and the spread of misinformation.

38. The Future of AI in Africa
Data Privacy Concerns
The collection and use of data for
AI systems raises important
privacy issues that governments
will need to address through
regulation and oversight.
Mitigating Social Issues
AI applications can help address
pressing social challenges in
Africa like food insecurity, lack of
access to education, and more.
Advances in Healthcare
AI can help improve healthcare
access and outcomes through
tools for remote diagnosis,
personalized treatment plans, and
predictive analytics.
Economic Growth
AI adoption in key sectors like
agriculture, education, and
finance can drive productivity,
efficiency, and economic growth
across the continent.
Job Market Disruption
The growth of AI may disrupt job
markets and exacerbate
unemployment in African
countries lacking policies for re-
training and social protection.
Increasing Access to
Technology
The rapid spread of mobile devices
and internet connectivity across
Africa will enable more people to
access AI services and tools.