There are three paths to the future of AI, symbolized by Hollywood movies. The first is Superman, a superhuman who uses AI to become a better being. The second is “RoboCop”, a world where AI has taken over from humans. The third is Iron Man, a world where humans and machines work together in harmony to build a better future.
We believe that the future will be like Superman and Iron Man. But no matter what the future looks like, AI will define our lives. And we have an opportunity to define AI as a communicator.
Although generative AI is a newcomer, building the AI brand has been an effort at VSC for the past decade.Today’s AI market is growing rapidly, with thousands of new startups and businesses emerging every day, but there is no consistent Brand presence is key to category creation, market leadership, and establishing a compelling story that connects with your audience over time.
PR and communications professionals play a critical role in how companies present their brand stories to stakeholders, especially when common narratives about artificial intelligence lack humanity, empathy, and accuracy. Key challenges in building an AI brand include getting past the hype cycle, fear of attrition, and digging deep into the actual scope of this technology.
remain human-centered
Fear of turnover is a significant challenge facing AI brands. The companies that will face the most backlash will focus on how AI can replace human jobs. This is wrong.
Messaging is not about AI being better than humans, it demonstrates how AI can become a “superhuman” with more tools and time to be more creative, productive, and safer need to do it. Switching the narrative from “instead of humans” to “superhumans” is one important example of how language matters.
For example, we worked with Zume, a Bay Area robotic pizza company, to highlight how automation enhances rather than replaces job roles. Zume used his AI to predict how many pizzas and what types of pizza people would order each day, and to power robots that bake and deliver pizzas. The real value is that automation protects crew members from injury and allows them to focus more on the menu, ingredient selection, and customer service.
When marketing your AI software or services, it’s also important to avoid making your customers worry that their jobs will be replaced. AI brands should focus less on benefits such as “cost savings,” which often refers to headcount, and more on demonstrating how their solutions improve productivity and efficiency. is. By highlighting the value that AI brings to business growth, brands can overcome the fear of turnover and gain customer trust.
Deep Tech vs. Shallow Tech
“Deep tech” refers to companies with business models based on high-tech innovation and with AI at the core of their business. In contrast, “shallow technology” simply adapts current products by using artificial intelligence to enhance them.
AI brands face the challenge of differentiating themselves in a crowded market where consumers are becoming more tech-savvy and curious. Whether you’re working with a deep or applied AI brand, it’s important to go beyond just “powered by AI” and communicate its true value proposition. This distinction helps establish credibility and expertise.
according to crunch base, AI is not a single field, but a technology that is applied to many fields. Just as being an “Internet company” has lost its uniqueness over time, artificial intelligence is becoming fundamental to everyone, so calling a startup an “AI company” is no longer acceptable. It may become unnecessary. Make sure you know the true value and purpose of your brand.
Be skeptical and strategic
Whether your brand is a developer or a user, AI is not perfect and can make mistakes. As such, brands need to have a clearly defined crisis communication plan in place to address situations where AI results in false or potentially harmful results. This is especially important for applications such as self-driving technology, image recognition, automated selection processes, and conversational/generative AI.
For example, earlier this year, attorney Stephen A. Schwartz of Levideau, Levideau & Overman used OpenAI’s ChatGPT to conduct legal research in a lawsuit against Avianca Airlines. ChatGPT provided him with references to multiple non-existent court cases, which his lawyers used to support his claims. Schwartz didn’t realize that AI could produce inaccurate data and didn’t verify the chatbot’s source, resulting in Schwartz and his partners paying him $5,000 in fines and lawsuits. faced a rejection.
This incident highlighted the unreliability of AI in certain applications. It highlights the need for brands to be transparent about the limitations of AI and develop strategies to remediate errors and corporate liability.
Beyond buzzwords
Building an AI brand requires a thoughtful approach that combines effective communication, differentiation, accuracy, and honesty.
Honesty is a destructive communication strategy. Honesty is very rare amidst noise, so if your brand remains precise and simple, it will stand out more. We build a team of PR professionals who can really dig deep into the technology behind your AI brand and craft concise messages that resonate.
Brands can successfully navigate the evolving AI technology landscape by being honest with stakeholders about what they’re doing and being precise about why and how.
Vijay Chattha is the founder and CEO of VSC PR. Daniella Rodriguez is a technical PR intern at the USC Center for PR and VSC.
