Over the past year, my journey with AI tools such as Claude, ChatGPT, and Google’s Gemini has reshaped how I approach communications and PR for tech founders and funds across Asia. Using these tools has fundamentally transformed my workflow and delivered more effective, targeted, and impactful PR campaigns.
There’s no question about it: AI is and will be an instrumental tool in our industry. Those who do not get on board will be left behind. It is tantamount to using an abacus for calculations.
Before diving into the learnings or applications for AI, one core principle I follow is to steer clear of using AI for first drafts or iterations of meaty content like press releases, long-form reports, or even an op-ed like this one. These early drafts often land generically and fail to hit the mark. But, who knows, future advancements and continuous learning might further enhance its effectiveness.
For now, though, AI is invaluable for idea generation, short-form content generation and refinement, and the design of simple graphics.
Here is a list of proven use cases:
Idea generation
AI is incredibly efficient for brainstorming talking points or story angles and getting your planning started. For instance, when developing a pitch about the rise of sector-specific AI for an early-stage VC fund, AI can swiftly generate a list of pertinent questions, which you can then fine-tune.
Example prompt: “I’m pitching a story for [insert publication] on the growth of AI for an e-commerce client – please give me a list of 10 questions.”
I then review and refine the questions.
Media pitches
Without a doubt, using AI has been useful in fine-tuning media pitches and providing a general sense check.
Example prompt:
“[insert media pitch] Please review and edit this pitch for a tech report for e27.
Media responses
Many PR professionals are increasingly using AI to develop media responses. AI is supportive in providing initial structure and broader viewpoints. However, the responses always need to be in line with the ‘house’ view, tone of voice, and of course, be original and authentic.
Headline crafting
Crafting the first five to seven words in a headline is crucial for a communications professional. For me, I use AI more often to refine my headlines than to generate them from scratch.
Example prompt:
“[insert current headline] Please provide five alternative headlines for a press release that targets institutional investors.”
Sense-checking messaging
As PR professionals, we always harp on getting the key message through. AI can be a partner in giving you that sense check.
Example prompt:
[insert content/interview response] What is the key message here?
Also Read: How marketing will be enhanced through generative AI
Editing
AI has been immensely helpful in editing content, bringing clarity, and quickly incorporating feedback.
Example prompt:
[insert paragraph of content] + [insert client feedback e.g. “For this paragraph, can you please also incorporate additional context on VC investment in Vietnam’s startup ecosystem?”
Transcriptions
Our clients are often time-pressed so any opportunity they get to speak on podcasts, webinars, media interviews, or panels, we look to reuse and repackage. The “old school” way was to record, get a transcriber to transcribe, review manually, and develop content off the back of it.
With tools like Castmagic, the transcriptions get cleaned up, analysed, and synthesised and are available in various blog, and social media formats. Tools like this are also useful in helping you slice and dice into various other formats, or respond to specific prompts (e.g. pull out all quotes related to hiring for AI roles in Southeast Asia). This can all be done by the time you make a French press coffee.
Graphics
This is still fairly preliminary but I’m excited about the developments. With advanced tools like ChatGPT 4.0, we now have access to the creation of diagrams, charts and pie graphs within minutes following a prompt. This will be an excellent resource in saving time and efficiency all around.
Example prompt: [create a timeline diagram of company X with inception and milestones].
Research assistance
Last but not least, AI has been a great research assistant in supporting media pitches, developing proposals, and overall content creation. With more advanced tools like Perplexity, you also have access to academic papers to draw from.
However, when using AI, it’s important not to take anything generated at face value and review it with a critical eye.
Be wary of inaccuracies or “hallucinations” in AI responses. AI is not perfect and the research presented needs to be double-checked and sources verified.
For example, if you prompt the following: “Give me a list of tech reporters in Asia.” You will find most of the list outdated. Since certain AI tools rely on information only available until 2022, 2023 or information is not fully updated online.
Also, it is important to ensure your work remains original and authentic. This reiterates the earlier point about not blindly trusting AI-generated content.
Ultimately, AI is designed to augment the work of communications and PR professionals. Our role as storytellers remains indispensable. In an AI-assisted world, the creation of high-quality content is more crucial than ever for PR professionals.
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