The total volume of information produced on the internet is doubling every three years, and our job as communicators is to stay up to date without missing a critical story. Keeping pace with the 24/7 news cycle and the overwhelming flood of content can be challenging, highlighting the need for effective tools to assist in efficiently triaging information.
Fortunately, recent advancements in large language models (LLMs) and AI-assisted summarization affords us the opportunity to revolutionize how we consume media coverage. While LLMs may not yet replace all long-form content, they are powerful tools for condensing information. By combining AI with contextual understanding, we can create news alerts that extract what matters, adding value and saving time.
In the increasingly technology-driven field of communications, the ability to competently leverage AI tools will distinguish you from your peers. Here are three reasons why you should integrate AI summarization to know faster and act faster:
A tailored summary cuts through the noise, surfacing what matters so you can more quickly get information and make decisions. These efficiency gains are critical when managing a brand reputation every day, especially during a crisis.
The problem with many summaries is their cookie-cutter approach, assuming all information is equally relevant to everyone. AI-assisted summarization can be tailored to focus the output on why the content is relevant to you—homing in on mentions of key stakeholders, specific issue areas, or quotes from your executive team.
Effectively communicating with leadership in the midst of a crisis can intensify an already stressful situation. Curated AI-assisted summaries of critical news content can be a quick and efficient way to highlight what matters.
Despite all its benefits, AI tools are not a 'set it and forget it' technology. Establish a plan to work closely with your vendors, internal team, and users to ensure the outputs continue to meet quality standards. Here are two things to keep top of mind:
We have all seen stories about AI tools that misrepresent facts or just plain make things up (“hallucinations”). AI summaries work best when they condense, not interpret, information so that it accurately reflects the source material. This is a complex task requiring both knowledge of prompt optimization and the subject matter of the content. Test the accuracy of the outputs before implementing summarization into your workflow.
Periodically review the summary outputs compared to the source material to maintain high-quality results. Although this review process can be time intensive, updates to foundation models and failures like model collapse can rapidly degrade summary quality.
AI summarization tools, when deployed properly, can significantly enhance your efficiency and effectiveness as a communicator, allowing you to focus on what matters and make informed decisions faster. Customizable summaries ensure that the information is relevant to your specific needs, whether it's managing brand reputation or communicating critical updates to leadership during a crisis. However, AI tools require careful management. Remember to consistently assess the accuracy of your outputs. Embracing AI summarization is not just about keeping up with the rapid pace of information—it's about gaining a competitive edge and driving meaningful engagement in your communications.