Source:
https://www.podbean.com/eau/pb-iarqr-14d6b2f

We cover AI and PR in many of our episodes because we want our fellow PR pros to have the knowledge they need to stay on top of this technology. In today’s episode, we’ll discuss the new “Warsaw Principles” unveiled earlier this month on the ethical use of AI in public relations by the International Communications Consultancy Organization (ICCO) at its Global Summit.
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Transcript
 
Michelle Kane (00:03):
Thank you for joining us for this episode of That Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros and marketers who work for themselves, people like me, Michelle Kane, with my company VoiceMatters, and my wonderful co-host, Karen Swim of the Mighty Solo PR Pro. How are you, Karen?
Karen Swim, APR (00:21):
Hi. I am doing good for Hump Day. Michelle, how are you?
Michelle Kane (00:25):
Exactly. Not bad, not bad. October's feeling a bit like a steamroller, but I am committed to staying just a few steps ahead of it. How does that sound?
Karen Swim, APR (00:36):
That sounds like all of us these days and 100% agree. I am feeling a little crushed right now.
Michelle Kane (00:49):
And the big picture is, it’s a great problem to have. So always spinning, always spinning the message. But yeah, so it's good. The air's getting crisper. That kind of perks things up a little. And I'll give a shout out now. I don't know what the story will be by the time this drops on Monday, but so far my Phillies are killing it. So life is good here in the Delaware Valley.
Karen Swim, APR (01:16):
Your Phillies are coming in and here in Michigan as we speak, the Lions are looking like a real football team. So go!
Michelle Kane (01:26):
And if the sports world is good, we are good, we're good.
Karen Swim, APR (01:30):
We need to celebrate and look forward to something.
Michelle Kane (01:34):
Amidst all the very serious strife going on. So today we're going to touch on, I know you're probably thinking, “they're talking AI again,” but we are, we're going to talk about AI because something really essential came out of the recent ICCO Global Summit and they are calling them the “Warsaw Principles” and they were ratified as principles for ethical use of AI and public relations. And I don't know about you, Karen, but as I was reading through them, I just kept nodding my head and then thinking, well, of course this is how an ethical communications person should use AI. But as we know, speaking of a steamroller, it is something that we really do need to keep up with before this technology might overrun our society and in a society where mis, mal, and disinformation is so horrifically prevalent.
Karen Swim, APR (02:37):
Yeah, I agree with one of the things for me is that we've talked a lot about the use of generative AI, and we've been keeping an eye on all of the ways that the use of AI, by others, by our audiences impacts our work. So I do think it is an important step. I know that PRSA has also addressed the ethics of AI and talked about this and voices for everyone has definitely put out resources about mis, mal, and disinformation, but I love that they tackled the problems as we move forward in this new world. And it is interesting that this came on the heels of other industries addressing AI and their work. So we saw this come up in the writer’s strike, in the ongoing actor’s strike in the ongoing auto workers strike. AI is playing a big role. And so the reason that we continue to talk about it is because it's developing so quickly and its use is becoming so widespread that we do also have to be very aware that it is a great tool when used properly, but we need to be aware of how it can be abused.
Michelle Kane (03:58):
Exactly. And in any good communication at the forefront should be the communicator's integrity, your credibility. Can you be trusted? Can you be trusted to give transparent and complete and factual information? And because without that, what are we doing?
Karen Swim, APR (04:22):
I agree. And one hope that I have, so one of the principles that, or something that the principals underscore the importance of is accuracy and fact checking. And I have to tell you, this is one of those things that just on a daily basis just causes me a lot of anxiety because even in our own just casual reading, you find that you really do have to check everything. And even with trusted sources. And I am hoping that as we continue to create and utilize AI and it becomes more and more ingrained into our daily lives in the work that we do, that there are also companies that can come up with ways to bulletproof the content that we produce. Because people can take something that you honestly said and repurpose it into something that sends a completely different message. That's a whole different level of monitoring for communications professionals. And it adds a whole new layer of complexity into protecting the reputations of our clients. And th