CategoryTobin Communications, Inc.

Tobin Communications: PR is About Precision & So Far, AI Doesn’t Always Hit the Mark

By Maury Tobin

These are challenging times, especially for those who work in strategic communications or public relations (PR), but also for the broader world and the leveraging of information.

The other morning, while I was using LinkedIn to network with a potential client, a “Write with AI” [artificial intelligence] option appeared at the bottom of my screen. The AI message said it could help introduce me to the contact and ask about his or her “time” at current and past jobs. A note on the screen said that by using the app, someone can “confidently contact anyone on LinkedIn by drafting a message.”

I was intrigued that LinkedIn said I could “confidently” use its app, so I put it to the test. The results — a few seemingly stilted paragraphs — were underwhelming and serve as a cautionary tale of where humanity and the workforce may be headed. A robust PR industry and information that isn’t highly engineered matter to the future of our society and business economics.

I understand the appeal of AI, but we are learning that it’s not a panacea. A recent robo call with an AI-produced voice of Joe Biden told Democrats to not vote in the New Hampshire primary. Tesla has faced a crisis because of its self-driving system malfunctioning and the company’s stock has dipped. Or there is this recent Business Insider headline: “Parcel delivery firm faces PR nightmare after AI-powered chatbot cusses and mocks the company.”

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Tobin Tells Story About America’s Infrastructure to Spark Federal Investment

By Debra Zimmerman Murphey

Infrastructure is currently the priority on the national policy agenda, and an initiative we are working on helped make that happen. To elevate the dialogue in and beyond the beltway, Tobin Communications, Inc. (TCI) crafts credible original content to transcend today’s hyperbolic echo chambers.

Driving awareness and heightening buy-in are among our objectives for our client, the Americans for Transportation Mobility (ATM) Coalition. We are sharing this ATM video ad that is still resonating within and outside the centrifuge of D.C.

America’s infrastructure needs modernization. Roads, bridges and public transit are built, expanded and maintained due to local, state and private-sector dollars, but also through crucial federal gas tax revenue that goes into the Highway Trust Fund (HTF). That gas tax, however, has not been raised since 1993 and the HTF is fiscally challenged. As some people know, federal lawmakers are focused on surface transportation reauthorization, but also reimagining what American infrastructure is, to help spur job and economic growth and get a long-term package done.

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