By Sheeva Azma
In the era of generative AI, can I enlist our hardworking robot friends to help me communicate better and improve scientist engagement in politics?
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Charlie Brown famously says to not talk about three things: politics, religion, and the Great Pumpkin. As a political communications professional, I talk about politics all the time. In the era of generative AI, can I enlist our hardworking robot friends to help me?
2024 is an election year, so one of my goals for the Fancy Comma blog this year is to add to our treasure trove of articles on political communications. I'm limited by my ability to wrangle my thoughts in the short time I have each week to blog (during which time I am also tutoring English remotely, sometimes). Making it all work as a small business owner is tough, but I am determined to make the most of my limited time, energy, and creativity.
It seems like I have a million things to say about political communications, but I'm not sure which ideas are most salient in our political times, or what people even want to read about. Once I figure that out, I will still have to sit at my laptop and figure out a way to get those ideas to paper amidst the hustle and bustle of life.
Don't get me wrong, I have a lot to say on the topic, which is one of my favorites. After all, I helped elect two senators through grassroots communications in the 2022 midterms. The challenge I face is: amidst the busyness of life, which insights will actually make it to the digital page?
In my moments of writer self-doubt, I wonder if ChatGPT could help me be a better writer
In the moments of self-doubt in which I don't know if my ideas will ever make it out of my brain (a beyond frustrating thought for a writer), I wonder: can generative AI really help me? The ideas are already in my brain, along with the subject matter expertise to go with it. The only thing I need is time and patience...or do I? Maybe I could just ask a genAI tool like ChatGPT to do it? Before I get any further, I should state that I don't use ChatGPT or other genAI tools to write articles, though I'm trying to figure out if the tools, in their current state, have any use for me and Fancy Comma. Hence...this post.
I'm really proud of the articles we've published so far on political communications. I've been playing around with generative AI (genAI) and one of my favorite features is the ability to input web content into the chatbots and get a summary out of it. I have been using blackbox.ai to test out genAI's capabilities, and sometimes it works, and other times, it doesn't. I find genAI frustrating in that it doesn't think like me and doesn't have deep knowledge and expertise. It can only summarize things as well as they are literally already on the page. My whole challenge as a human is getting words to the page. I guess I eagerly await the day that Neuralink can read my mind and put its contents directly into a Google Doc.
What can generative AI actually do for writers?
ChatGPT and other genAI tools are so new that people still don't really have a handle on what they can and can't do. More and more, I am hearing about ways writers can use ChatGPT that don't involve it writing things for you, but helping you brainstorm. I am reluctant to do this myself as I don't find that most articles on the web are very accurate, but others have had success using it as a helper.
You can use genAI to do things like come up with book outlines. I just recently edited and helped publish a book about the use of generative AI, which helped me learn more about genAI's potential. The book, Reimagined, talks about ways generative AI can be used in product development. It is written by three women in the tech world, and having read the book from start to finish as its editor, I can say that it is an enlightening read. In the book's launch party, one of the authors mentioned that she used genAI to write the book outline, but that it took 10 hours to get anything useful out of ChatGPT. They describe using genAI to try to write the book, but it didn't do a good job, so they wrote it themselves, and then I got to edit it. It was super fun to learn about genAI in this way, and cool that genAI created a job for me as an editor of a book about how to use it! See, my friends, human writers are not becoming irrelevant.
The question I struggle with when it comes to generative AI is: would my time be better invested actually writing articles, or using ChatGPT and similar tools? As my client's experience shows, especially for high-tech fields requiring deep expertise, genAI doesn't hold a candle to human subject matter experts...but it seems like it can still help in the earlier ideation phases, if you're into that. (So weird to me that genAI use is becoming one of those things that you either do and love or don't and find weird, kind of like whether you're one of those people who uses COVID vaccines or doesn't.)
I don't struggle with writer's block; I get way too many ideas
As of writing this, I am also writing a book, Science x Marketing, and coming up with an outline took a three-day weekend. Because I can't find the insights I am writing about anywhere else, it's not possible to use ChatGPT to write my book. I admit that, when I'm feeling lazy and defeated about my ability to get words to the page, I look to ChatGPT as a way to make writing easier but, in my limited experience with genAI, it's not the kind of thing where you can just take the output and publish it. I feel that genAI chatbots stifle my creativity and create closed-minded ways of thinking that kill my own good ideas.
I get ideas all the time, and the difficult part is making sure I actually take the time to write them down so that I don't miss out on them. My weirdest story about getting an idea is that I was once driving somewhere to go running, and while navigating a gravel road, I got the idea to create the FREE, 12-week Fancy Comma science communication curriculum...and I did!
What I need isn't another genAI tool, but an easier way to capture my ideas when they occur to me at the most random times when it's not easy to get to a pen and paper or my smartphone to take a note or record a voice memo. Until then, I can try to use genAI tools as much as I want, but they will always leave something to be desired.
In a chaotic world with less and less time for unstructured creativity, can generative AI help me? Until genAI can get the ideas directly out of my brain and combine that with deep research, it looks like the answer is ... almost, but not quite.
Still, I am an MIT graduate - and "Technology" is the "T" in MIT. I love technology, even if it scares me how rapidly technology advances at times. I definitely don't want to get left behind in the new era of genAI; I want to make the most of it, too, provided that it can actually help me do something.
People are always talking about politics, and I am not a political science or government major, so I set out to find out if genAI can help me in my political communications endeavor.
Chatting with GenAI about political communications
When I have some free time, I like to go to blackbox.ai, a genAI website, and ask it questions. I heard of it through a Spotify ad that said you could use it to summarize YouTube videos, and decided to check it out.
I like blackbox.ai because it's free, you don't need an account to use it, and you can ask it simple questions using the chat box at the bottom of the page. It's a lot easier to use than the more established genAI tools that all have several layers of work (on your side) before you can actually use them.
My favorite feature of this website is its ability to summarize content from the web, whether blogs or YouTube videos. It's been pretty fun to feed different URLs to Fancy Comma blogs and other content to the genAI bot, and see if it can do a good job of summarizing. Sometimes it's really great, but other times, it doesn't work.
For my foray into asking genAI about political comms, here was my first question to it, which started out with some homework. I asked it to read some blogs and tell me what else fits into the realm of political communication. I suppose this question could have been better defined, but I am running short on time, and am not super skilled on what the best genAI prompts are. Hopefully, this worked well enough.
Here's what it said:
Article 1, "Congressional One-Pager," discusses the importance of a concise and well-designed one-pager for policy proposals in congressional communication. It highlights the need to include key information such as problem statement, solution, and supporting data while using clear and accessible language.
Article 2, "Improving Policymaking through Science Communication," emphasizes the significance of effective science communication in policymaking. It suggests strategies such as using plain language, storytelling, and visual aids to help policymakers understand complex scientific concepts. The article also encourages scientists to engage in policymaking and build relationships with policymakers.
Article 3, "Political SciComm Examples," provides examples of successful science communication in politics. It highlights instances where scientists and policymakers have effectively communicated scientific information to inform policy decisions...
Not too shabby, right?! Then, it continued with a list of related topics:
Under the umbrella of political communication, other related topics include:
- Campaign communication: the messages and strategies used in political campaigns to persuade voters.
- Lobbying communication: the efforts of special interest groups to influence policymakers.
- Public affairs communication: the communication between organizations and their publics, including policymakers, to build relationships and shape public opinion.
- Political journalism: the reporting and analysis of political news and events.
- Opinion research and polling: the use of surveys and other research methods to gauge public opinion and inform policymakers.
The benefits of this AI approach was that the software was able to scour the internet and use the language that actual people in political comms might use. The downside was that I found the list boring. It worked as an overarching series of categories to write about, but I also found it kind of limiting and lacking "out-of-the-box" thinking. Unsatisfied with the output, I asked it another question.
This time, it listed its sources before it got into its discussion. Then it named a few topics, with references, and did reference the three articles I had given it to read in the previous question! I did not find this list interesting in the least, but it was cool to have a free, easy way to get more ideas, even if I'm not sure about how I could use them.
The interesting topics blackbox.ai came up with were the same as the above list, with a couple of extra items relating to:
- Setting agendas, framing issues, and influencing public opinion through political communication
- Communication in the political process at local, state, national, and international levels
- Political communication as related to power
- Political communication in the media
- Political communication by "political actors" (seems a bit vague, but OK!)
- Political communications of lobbyists to influence policymakers through communication
It also included some stuff that was redundant or didn't really make sense. It didn't really do too well on this step, perhaps because I didn't define "interesting." I especially love new perspectives and ways to look at an issue that are refreshing and informative all at once, and I guess I didn't make that too clear to my robot friend.
Next, I was feeling super lazy, so I told the genAI chatbot to Google some political communication tips and tell me what it found. This would be the type of job I would get as a new freelance writer, and while I feel for the people who no longer have to do this menial work thanks to genAI, it's amazing that there's basically no need for humans to do such menial jobs anymore.
Sources: newsinitiative.withgoogle.com (1) callhub.io (2) support.google.com (3) libguides.princeton.edu (4)
Searching for "political communication tips" on Google provides various results related to strategies, advice, and best practices for effective political communication. Here are some key takeaways from the top results:
Understand your audience: Tailor your message to the interests, values, and concerns of your target audience.
Use clear and concise language: Avoid jargon and complex language to ensure your message is easily understood.
Leverage storytelling: Share personal stories, anecdotes, or case studies to make your message more relatable and memorable.
Utilize visual aids: Incorporate images, graphs, charts, or videos to help convey your message more effectively.
Engage with your audience: Encourage dialogue, listen to feedback, and respond to questions or concerns to build trust and rapport.
Be authentic and genuine: Authenticity helps establish credibility and trust with your audience.
Stay consistent: Ensure your messaging is consistent across different platforms and channels.
Monitor and adapt: Regularly track the performance of your communication efforts and adjust your strategies accordingly.
Build relationships: Establish and maintain relationships with policymakers, journalists, and other stakeholders to increase your influence and reach.
Stay informed: Keep up-to-date with current events, trends, and issues related to your political communication goals.
These tips can be applied to various aspects of political communication, such as campaigning, lobbying, public affairs, political journalism, and policymaking.
Lastly, I asked it if it had anything else it wanted to add, which is a good practice when interviewing humans for journalism articles. It responded by giving me a primer on political communication, complete with references, again. It seems authoritative enough, and even though it has sources, I know that AI sometimes "hallucinates" stuff, so without being a political communications professor, I can't say whether this is good or bad info, though I pretty much knew most of this already. I would love to know how much of this info is from a textbook and how much of it is from real-life engagement in political communication. Still, I am grateful to my genAI friend for being able to expand my knowledge horizons with some hopefully accurate facts.
Sources: gcu.edu (1) sciencedirect.com (2) mastersincommunications.com (3) communication.iresearchnet.com (4)
Political communication is a critical aspect of the political process, encompassing various forms of interaction between political actors, citizens, and the media. It involves not only the transmission of messages but also the interpretation and reception of those messages by different audiences. Effective political communication requires an understanding of the context, the audience, and the goals of the message, as well as the ability to use appropriate channels and strategies to convey the message effectively.
Political communication can take many forms, including speeches, debates, press releases, social media posts, and advertising. It can also involve more subtle forms of communication, such as body language, tone of voice, and visual imagery. The use of new technologies, such as social media, has transformed the political communication landscape, enabling politicians and citizens to engage in real-time conversations and debates.
In addition to its role in the political process, political communication is also an important area of research in the fields of communications, political science, and psychology. Scholars in these fields study the effects of political communication on public opinion, voter behavior, and political institutions. They also explore the ethical dimensions of political communication, such as the role of truthfulness, transparency, and accountability in political discourse.
To be successful in political communication, it is essential to have a deep understanding of the political context, the issues at stake, and the audience's needs, values, and beliefs. Effective political communicators must also be skilled in various forms of communication, including writing, speaking, and visual communication. They must be able to craft compelling messages that resonate with their audience and inspire action, while also being mindful of the ethical implications of their communication strategies.
In summary, political communication is a complex and multifaceted field that plays a critical role in the political process. Effective political communication requires a deep understanding of the political context, the audience, and the goals of the message, as well as the ability to use appropriate channels and strategies to convey the message effectively. It is an essential skill for political actors, citizens, and the media, and an important area of research in the fields of communications, political science, and psychology.
What is generative AI missing?
I found its answers useful, to the extent that I could fact-check the outputs, and I loved that it can type faster than I can think. However, it is pretty boring and formulaic and very textbook-like. There's nothing interesting or engaging about this output, but it definitely gives me more ideas than I could come up with myself, and there are only limited things that it can do.
My concern is that everyone is using these types of generative AI tools and getting the same outputs, leading to the whole world basically relying on the same frameworks. I'd love to know if AI researchers are having any luck at getting their tools to "think outside the box" or if they can even train a robot to do so. I think, at that point where a robot can start to think like humans do, it might be cool to have robot friends.
GenAI helps me get to my goal, but not in the out-of-the-box, problem-solving way I value
All in all, it was interesting to do this AI experiment, but had I had more energy, I could have come up with some really interesting insights about political communication without genAI helping me come up with a framework.
Sometimes, though, a completed article, however basic, is better than no writing at all. It's a starting point for future thought. Overall, though, I'm torn: was this really helpful, or is it just steering me in irrelevant directions? The goal of writing about political communications, for me, is to help train effective science communicators who can go out there and do great things in the world. Does genAI really help me get to that? Who knows. That's why I'll probably continue to engage it in conversation here and there, but will rely on my own brain for brainstorming and writing. I'll keep you posted!
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