S6 E8: Democracy, AI, and Public Affairs with Natacha Clarac

Adrian McIntyre: 00:00:01

From the Public Relations Global Network, this is PRGN Presents. I'm Adrian McIntyre.

Abbie Fink: 00:00:07

And I'm Abbie Fink, president of HMA Public Relations in Phoenix, Arizona and a founding member of PRGN. With public relations leaders embedded into the fabric of the communities we serve, clients hire our agencies for the local knowledge, expertise, and connections in markets spanning six continents across the world.

Adrian McIntyre: 00:00:28

Our guests on this bi-weekly podcast series are all members of the Public Relations Global Network. They will discuss such topics as workplace culture, creative compensation and succession planning, the importance of sustainability and environmental, social and governance programs, crisis communications and outside of the box thinking for growing your business.

Abbie Fink: 00:00:47

For more information about PRGN and our members, please visit prgn.com. And now let's meet our guest for this episode.

Natacha Clarac: 00:00:59

Hello, I'm Natacha. I'm the Managing Director of Athenora Consulting, a lobbying firm based in Brussels, and I'm also the president of PRGN.

Abbie Fink: 00:01:09

Well, Natacha, I've been so intrigued by this topic. I'm excited to talk to you because artificial intelligence has been something that we've discussed quite a lot on this podcast. And it's always been positioned as a value technology, something that is bringing resources to our organizations, and it's providing an opportunity to get smarter about particular industries and such. And we're going to talk today about its role in public affairs, in particular.

And it's interesting to me as elections at the end of last year around the world and the impact that something like AI can have on proactive communications, but with the lens of communicating with policy making and lobbying and such, it really adds a new dynamic to that topic.

So to get started, it's certainly something that has been important to you in the work that you're doing, but where is AI in terms of … is it a valuable part of the work that you do? And what is the overall view of how to use this very important technology in the work that you're doing?

Natacha Clarac: 00:02:32

Thank you Abbie. You're right. 20 24 was election year. More than 2 billion people in 50 countries went to vote. And we, as lobbyist professionals, we had some concern about how these new generative AI models could potentially create harmful disinformation and how they could disrupt elections. But a few months later, we said that there have been some challenges in terms of artificial intelligence being misused during elections, but there is no clear evidence that any tools had a measurable impact on the result of the election.

But this raises questions on how we work as public affairs or public relations professionals. And this invites us to strongly strengthen the authenticity of the information we use, the authenticity of the communication we craft. Because I strongly believe that artificial intelligence is mainly an opportunity to improve democratic process in society. It has the power to increase citizens' engagement, but it's a shared responsibility to cross-check information and make sure that as a PR or PA professional, we're using this as a tool to increase trust in the democracy.

At the EU level, I'm sure you were aware that last year, we also crafted EU regulation to shape what kind of artificial intelligence tools we can use. And we also have a kind of code of practice about disinformation, where professionals commit to use self-regulatory standards to fight against any disinformation and increase transparency in the communication we draft. And we see these trends to regulate artificial intelligence, not only in the EU, but also worldwide.

We have to make sure, as PR and PA professionals, that we are proactively using these compliance tools and also navigate those regulations effectively. What do we have to do to address these new trends in terms of artificial intelligence? Clearly it's not just a futuristic concept. Now, in all our campaigns, we're using artificial intelligence, and we believe it's a game changer. But we need to navigate these ethical lines between how we use artificial intelligence content and misinformation. And the responsibility is how we integrate this tool in our communication advice to the clients we serve.

Abbie Fink: 00:05:34

One of the things that I think, certainly from a public relations perspective, and obviously in the public affairs environment, and the words you used, authenticity and transparency are so important. But there's that human connection that you need to have in the work you're doing, right?

You're meeting with policymakers and you're meeting with other influencers that are helping shape conversation. What is happening with your governmental body, you know, that give-and-take, in that dialogue is such an important part of what you do?

And one of the things I have personally been finding value in using AI and some of the tools is in research and in finding information. And I hope this remains the case, there still has to be a human element to all of this, right? We still need to inject ourselves into all of this information. And the idea that we have this tool at our disposal, and in your case having ethical guidelines that are being proposed and approved.

But how are you seeing—and maybe it isn't—is it improving the efficiency of which you work with, you know, with lobbyists to policymakers? Is it creating an added level of risk in terms of the types of conversations? Or is it leveling the playing field a little bit because we all now have access to some of the same information?

Natacha Clarac: 00:07:08

It's true that the landscape of public affairs and public relations has been changed by artificial intelligence. It's changed how we craft communication strategies and how we execute them. But globally, a majority of us see artificial intelligence as an opportunity. As you said, it speeds up the process of collecting data—if they are not biased—but we can also increase the commitment with the audience that we want to reach. We can process more information, and this helps us to have better knowledge of a situation. So I do believe there are synergies.

The fusion of artificial intelligence and communication is changing how we are drafting and crafting our lobbying strategy. It's changed the way we are engaging with the audience, especially with decision makers. We can analyze data in a more effective way. We can craft a narrative based on more resources. We can make our lobbying campaigns in a more personalized, responsive, impactful way.

But I do believe, as you said, that the sense of public relations lobbying is still very focused on human touch, maybe emotional intelligence. I'm not sure the artificial intelligence tools can have this emotional intelligence that is needed in our work. So artificial intelligence will not supplant the strategic acumen, the relational skills we have as experts, but we need to master the tool in order to make sure that we can provide to clients the best-in-class lobbying campaign.

Abbie Fink: 00:08:55

There was a study that came out recently, and one of the topics was on AI and what, as public relations practitioners, we were worried about or concerned about with the advent of AI and its impact in the work that we're doing. And there was discussion about the results of the survey that there are some concerns that “AI is going to take my job.”

And as it was being discussed, there was also a view that said, “this is an opportunity,” right? That it may take the job of an individual that doesn't learn how to use it correctly, doesn't understand the power and what it can bring and how it can make what we do more efficient, a deeper dive into the analytics, all of those kind of things. And it's important and a responsibility for those of us to use this in a smart way, in an ethical, transparent way.

I am not a believer that it will replace any of us. I think it is just going to require us to understand it and use it in such a way. But there is a big responsibility to use it—and use it correctly—and not buy into what it can do with misinformation and disinformation and utilizing it in a way that leads conversations away from what it actually should be.

And I think where we're seeing this happen is certainly, and it's not new, social media has been a place over the handful of years now to have very one-sided dialogues, and you can put content in any way you want. And it is shaping public opinion. It is influencing policy debate—maybe not the policy specifically, but conversations. And so, as we have all this access, it is making an impact on the work that we're doing.

As a leader in the role of public affairs and shaping policy, how are you analyzing all of these places where good, strong, ethical, responsible communicators know that they should be doing these things? And there are a lot of others out there that are using that same information and not using it for good. And we're in the middle of trying to educate the difference.

Natacha Clarac: 00:11:39

Yeah, you're right. It's partly based on how we educate citizens to be critical in how they handle information that they see on social networks or on the Internet. But I do believe that the core of advocacy campaigns or public relations campaigns is still how we craft messages. And this part is very strategic for good communication. And we cannot be replaced by artificial intelligence. Because even if the content that’s provided could be great, when you analyze what it really means, it's sometimes empty of the sense that we want to bring.

If we want to have impactful communication, we need to dedicate work to create and craft messages. We need to be creative. We need to be clear. We need to be concise. We need to be consistent. We need to drive compelling communication, and we need to be credible in what we say.

And I do believe that all those elements cannot be crafted by artificial intelligence. We need to put some human intelligence in that. We need to really understand the mission and the vision of the clients we're working for. We need strong arguments and calls-for-action. Honestly, this cannot be drafted by artificial intelligence, because as long as storytelling will be critical, we will need this authenticity to build messaging.

And it's our responsibility, when we advise our clients, to make sure they master the communication and not just copy-cat or duplicate artificial intelligence generated content, because this is how you shape public policy.

Abbie Fink: 00:13:28

That education component is so important. And what worries me, I think, in the AI discussion, whether we're talking about it in terms of advocacy, or creating discussions regarding policy, or simply just gathering information for the launch of a new restaurant, right? I mean, you can use it for a variety of different things … is those of us that are using it in that way understand the responsibility of what we're doing and what we're putting out there. And we have clients and organizations that trust us to understand it and help guide them. And it's really about those that don't take that responsibility seriously and put information out that is meant to guide, but may not be being done in the most forward, honest way.

I believe, and you've mentioned it, and all of the guests on this podcast that have discussed AI, we know it's not a trend. It's going to be here for a long time. It's going to be part of everything we do. So how do we plan for it effectively? How do we use it appropriately? How do we educate and make sure it's being done? And really, what will the future look like in the work that we're doing, in your case in particular with public affairs, but in general with public relations, with communication strategy? How is this going to impact the future of the work we're doing?

Natacha Clarac: 00:15:08

It's true that there might be folks outside that can use artificial intelligence for wrong reasons, but I believe in the creativity of the human being. And many tools have been created also to fact-check the information that was produced by artificial intelligence tools. So now we can even see if content has been created by artificial intelligence.

What we need to educate people is, first, check their sources. Second, be very transparent if they are using, if we are using, artificial intelligence to just make it very clear how we use them and also use those new tools, like digital solutions that will help us to verify if this content has been created by artificial intelligence or by someone.

I think as long as we believe that for good communication to shape public policy, to shape public opinion, we will need this emotional connection, I think our job will be useful in order to increase the persuasion. And this artificial intelligence generated content cannot really make the trick of drafting emotional connection.

Adrian McIntyre: 00:16:30

Thanks for listening to this episode of PRGN Presents, brought to you by the Public Relations Global Network.

Abbie Fink: 00:16:36

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