1. Information Inflation

Once we entered the Digital Age in the mid-20th century, there was a substantial and sustained increase in the volume of information. It has since advanced exponentially in recent years with the introduction of generative AI, such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and LlaMa. Aside from an increase in volume, technological advancements and new AI tools have also lowered the costs of producing content. 

While this may be an advantage, it also poses potential challenges towards communications professionals in finding relevant information in a sea of information. In addition, it becomes increasingly difficult for us to cut through the noise and reach our audiences, whether because our audience is disengaged due to information overload or because we fail to create unique, attention-grabbing content.

These factors contribute to what the Communications Trend Radar 2024 calls ‘information inflation,’ characterised by the “rising costs and efforts required to offer and use relevant and reliable information” amidst the influx of content online.

In light of this challenge, communications professionals should reexamine their strategies, such as creating hyper-personalised content to grab our audience’s attention. 

Furthermore, we can simplify communications and reevaluate the way we disseminate messages to ensure the information is easily absorbed at a time when attention spans are diminishing. After all, the average human attention span has decreased from 12 seconds to 8.25 seconds within the last two decades.

2. AI literacy

Since AI was first introduced, it has taken industries by storm due to its ability to automate complex processes efficiently and cost-effectively. 

For example, in the world of corporate communications, AI can monitor and analyse stakeholder communications, such as trend analysis or crisis monitoring; edit and create text or visual content; or obtain general support, such as draft creation or idea generation.

Read more: ChatGPT, Gemini and LlaMa: How AI is Revolutionising Strategic Communications.

Earlier this year, in March, LinkedIn research found that 70% of recruitment managers predict rapid technological advancements, including AI, will widen the workforce’s skill gap. Over 77% of companies worldwide use or explore AI tools to streamline their operations.

While the majority (83%) of professionals in Europe are keen to deepen their AI knowledge, with 74% believing that it will help them progress in their careers, the research also found that businesses across Europe lack concrete initiatives to help their workforce use AI tools. Thus, it underscores a need to ensure you and your team’s AI literacy. 

First, you can improve your AI literacy by staying up-to-date with AI technology’s latest capabilities and understanding its applications in corporate communications. By then, you will develop the ability to assess your team’s AI literacy, which will provide you with insights regarding your specific ecosystem’s digital landscape. After doing so, you can allocate the appropriate resources for your team to explore and experiment with AI tools based on your organisational goals and needs.

3. Shifts in the workforce

The Communications Trend Radar 2024 report highlights three main factors affecting the labour supply: 

• sociological shifts, such as societal expectations and perceptions on concepts of sustainability, purpose, work-life balance, and upskilling
• economic shifts, including labour shortages and the growth of the gig economy
• technological shifts, such as AI and hybrid work environments

Failure to address these shifts could result in conflicts that negatively affect the work environment and culture. For example, every generation has unique beliefs, customs, and perspectives that change how the labour market operates. Older generations, such as Millenials, might see Gen Alpha as challenging the status quo, while the latter might view the older generation as outdated.

Communications professionals can adopt several measures to tackle the evolving landscape of labour supply, including effectively utilising internal communications and employer branding to attract skilled employees with values that align with the organisation’s. 

Aside from attracting high-value employees, it can be leveraged to address their needs and expectations, which, in turn, retains and engages them in conditions where labour shortages affect our ability to fill positions quickly. Another method to retain talent could be to invest in creating a positive workplace culture where employees are given a safe space to voice their concerns and opinions.

Previously, it was found that 70% of the UK’s workforce was interested in upskilling—and this number only grows as Gen Z and Millenials value L&D more than any other generation. Communications professionals must future-proof their departments, which will enable them to retain a skilled talent pool and increase the business’ competitiveness.

4. Content Integrity and the fight against misinformation

Research shows that false news often spreads faster than real news, primarily online through social media platforms, so much so that over eight in every ten people in the UK encounter fake news daily. Moreover, the Guardian reported that nearly 50 news websites are almost entirely AI-generated, and it is becoming an increasing issue, with over half of people in the UK (52%) admitting they have been deceived by false news at least once. 

As communications professionals often rely on external sources, this can lead to misleading advice for top management, communicative challenges, ineffective stakeholder communications, or even the unintentional integration of fake data into our content that undermines our content integrity, creating potential legal and ethical issues.

On the other hand, malicious actors can misuse and modify corporate content to negatively impact our organisational reputation.

Consequently, it is recommended that we implement verification and authentication technologies—such as C2PA standards, which enable us to trace the origin of different media forms—to check the integrity of our content, whether for internal or external purposes. We could also publicly share how our content is verified, ultimately building higher trust between us and our audience.

However, if our prevention measures are ineffective, we should develop crisis response plans for various threat scenarios, such as promptly releasing statements to correct the misinformation.

Read more: How to Fight AI-Powered Misinformation and Disinformation.

5. Technologies to harness physiological and behavioural data

Previously, our interactions with technology required input purposefully given by us as human users. However, the future’s technological landscape will become increasingly capable of capturing our physiological and behavioural data, which can be leveraged to respond to and stimulate our feelings and thoughts.

A current example of this can be seen in how social media platforms use AI and algorithms to analyse our patterns of behaviour to engage us and, in turn, increase our time spent on a given platform.

Emerging technologies will continue to increase their capacity to access more in-depth physiological and behavioural data, potentially creating opportunities for significant improvements in messaging automation, contextualisation, and personalisation.

In corporate communications, technology will allow us to gain better insights into how our audiences react to corporate content. Based on these insights, we can then craft a strategy to create messaging that better resonates with and engages our audience.

Moreover, neurotechnology, such as brain­-computer interfaces (BCIs) that enable our brain to interact directly with a computer or technology will revolutionise corporate communications. As an illustration, neurotechnology can assist people in identifying their stress levels, as well as help them make better judgements and control their emotional responses.

Neurotech can also analyse brain data to help leaders identify the most effective training methods for their employees, which feeds into the creation of better competency development strategies.

While these technologies will be groundbreaking for the future of corporate communications, ethical concerns must be raised regarding data privacy and security, safety and potential side effects, and whether they accurately represent one’s emotional and cognitive states.

Curzon PR is a London-based PR firm working with clients globally. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our Business Development Team [email protected]