Generative AI in the Business Communication Curriculum: Where Do We Go From Here?

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As we’ve been tracking the development of intelligent communication technologies in our recent editions, augmented and automated writing systems have been the most intriguing innovation of them all. ChatGPT received most of the attention when OpenAI unleashed it on a mostly unsuspecting world last fall, but several hundred companies are now developing tools that promise to create or co-create anything from routine email messages and social media content to podcasts, presentations, and videos.

While the AI industry is clearly in the overheated early-hype phase with some of these products, intelligent capabilities are now widely available in the mainstream tools people use on the job, so it’s safe to say that generative AI technologies are on their way to becoming everyday business communication tools. With that in mind, it’s time to start teaching tomorrow’s professionals how to use them effectively and ethically—as we know many of you are already doing.

Looking ahead to the next edition of Business Communication Today we’ll be working on in the coming months, which topics would you like to see us cover? Here are some of the topics we’re considering:

  • Understanding the various roles that AI now has in workplace communication
  • Using AI efficiently, including tips on framing AI prompts
  • Learning specific ways to use AI for business communication, from co-creation to proofreading to technical aspects of media production
  • Assessing information quality risks with AI-generated material, including accuracy (getting bad information), scope (missing important facts or facets of a topic), currency (getting outdated information), and nuance (getting output that is close but lacks important interpretation)
  • Understanding ethical risks, including biases baked into AI systems and attribution issues surrounding the use of AI-generated content
  • Understanding legal risks, such as misusing intellectual property or inappropriately uploading secure content into AI engines
  • Dealing with the “soullessness” of AI-generated content and its potential impact on interpersonal communication

If you have any thoughts on how our textbooks can help you help students with these new tools, we would certainly value your input. Please share your thoughts at any of these venues:

 

Image by MOMO36H10 HH from Pixabay 

May 18, 2023