By Jessyca Sheehan

I’ve been fortunate in my 20-year career in communications and public affairs to witness major technological innovations in real time. From using my thumbs to send emails via my trusted BlackBerry to answering a phone call and tracking every step on my watch, the revolution has been not only staggeringly cool but speedy.

Today, I am wrapping my head around the even more rapid advancement of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) and what it all means in our work for clients and in everyday life. While a year ago I was skeptical at best, I am now excited – albeit cautiously so – about its potential.

AI’s developmental haste was put in candid and sometimes startling terms at a recent panel discussion hosted by LPA as part of our firm’s LPA University program. Several specialists in the generative AI space came to our downtown Sacramento office to graciously lend their time and knowledge in a discussion with our full public affairs team around GenAI’s lightning-speed evolution and its impact on the way we do business.

We heard from Brian Duke, California State Senate Governmental Organization Committee consultant; Nate Saletan, co-founder of Influent and a partner of LPA’s who offers GenAI consulting and proprietary GenAI services in advocacy; and Dr. Alexander “Sasha” Sidorkin, chief AI officer at Sacramento State University.

The panelists made three things crystal-clear:

• AI has moved out of its introductory phase and is starting to saturate beyond just the tech industry, with AI expected to permeate every type of business over the next two years.
• While we still don’t fully understand how it generates answers, we get it in principle and have immediate opportunities in California to learn and lead on how and where GenAI is used.
• The desire to manage the impact and ethics of AI use in the public and private sectors is high, as is figuring out what role human capital will play alongside it.

State leadership on GenAI

As a state rich in entrepreneurship and innovation, California is in an opportune position to lead on GenAI. Gov. Newsom got out early on addressing GenAI last summer, issuing an executive order to prepare California for the technology’s rapid progress, including its use potential as well as risks. Consistent with the order, California GovOps and the Dept. of Technology last spring were directed to establish “sand box projects” in several state agencies in partnership with tech vendors to train contained GenAI models using secured state data and identify potential beneficial applications of it, along with risks. These include a California Dept. of Transportation traffic and fatality reduction project, a Tax and Fee Administration project to improve human customer service interaction with a GenAI “coach” in their ear, and others in Health and Human Services.

Given my work in the energy and climate space, one unintended consequence of AI that I am keenly aware of is its demand on energy supply. AI is powered by data centers that use a lot of energy and water which will require new sustainable technologies and policies as we work to achieve our climate goals and maintain a reliable grid.

Practical use of AI in public affairs, education, business

With more responsible data training of GenAI models and guidelines in development, more will be revealed about GenAI and how we can utilize it in strategic communications and public affairs in the coming months and years. Advocacy tools are already in development and demand, according to panelist Saletan, to help with constituent letter generation, ideation for civic engagement activities and more.

Still, whether in government, business or education, the human being remains relevant. Panelist Sidorkin urged a perspective that GenAI should not be looked at as a replacement for humans, as it still makes errors, can hallucinate or just flat out make things up. Human veracity will end up being honed even further as a necessary skill.

Staying ahead of the curve

Last year, LPA sought to get out ahead of the risks by ensuring our team knew how to use GenAI both effectively and responsibly in the work we do. We issued guidelines and best practices for our staff that we recently updated, recognizing that GenAI tools and uses are evolving at lightning-speed. We’re holding demos and trainings for our team and continuing to look at learnings from the PR Council and other industry groups, as well as experts like those who joined us for this session.

For me, the idea that GenAI can be a partner to us human counterparts, taking on the rote work so we can be freed up to engage in the more important human connections, relationship building and strategic thinking is exciting. It will be here before we know it.

Jessyca Sheehan is Executive Vice President with LPA.