There has been much discussion about artificial intelligence (AI) and what it means for the workforce – particularly which jobs are likely to be replaced by AI.

Digitalisation, automation and AI will have a profound impact on labour markets across the world. Low skilled jobs or those involving repetition or language use such as copywriting or software coding, and even legal and engineering jobs, are more at risk of being replaced by AI than jobs that can’t be replicated by computers. That includes roles involving physical tasks such as nursing, gardening or cleaning and roles requiring people skills, including emotional intelligence and complex decision-making.

The question is also being asked if AI can replace the role of thought leadership?

The term ‘thought leadership’ was first coined in 1994. Over the past three decades, it has evolved into a marketing strategy for many professional organisations. Thought leadership offers many professionals the opportunity to demonstrate expertise as well as educate, influence and inspire.

HLB Mann Judd’s Financial Times newsletter serves as an example, aiming to add value by offering our clients guidance via articles written by our leaders across the network.

In one sense, AI does have the potential to replace thought leadership. It can write content on any topic and at any length. This means that an article generated by ChatGPT, or another AI tool, could be written and uploaded to a website within minutes.

But however tempting this may sound, the reality is this scenario is risky and may have dire reputational consequences for any organisation that adopts such an approach.

Ethical and authentic content generation

Those who have dipped their toe in the water of AI would have quickly discovered that the content generated by tools such as ChatGPT is more than a little bland. Although intelligent, AI lacks human emotion. It is not driven to help make change or assume the role of a ‘trusted adviser.’ It is also not bound by ethics and values.

Simply put, Martin Luthur King’s ‘I have a dream’ speech could never have been written by AI.

Our ability to learn and absorb information is incredible. Past university studies indicate that we have the capacity to process 34 gigabytes, or approximately 100,000 words, per day. Additionally, human intelligence understands the nuances of language, tracing back to the first humans sharing knowledge through storytelling. Therefore, we know how to decipher what is real and what is not.

AI bots policing AI content

Marketers are well aware of the power of search engine optimisation (SEO) and search engine results pages (SERPs). Ranking organically in the right keywords searches is the holy grail for marketers who seek to promote their brands. Whole industries are dedicated to helping organisations adapt to Google’s ever-evolving algorithms and SEO optimisation.

For some years now, a rule of thumb for online thought leadership is to make sure that 80 per cent of the content is original. Google penalises websites for duplicated or plagiarised content, as well as poor grammar or spelling and the over-use of keywords, known as keyword stuffing.

In 2022, shortly after the launch of ChatGPT, Google indicated it had no issue with thought leadership generated by AI as long as it was content created by people, for people. However, earlier this year, Google shifted its position, announcing its latest algorithm update could decipher AI-generated content through pattern recognition, naturalness, phrases, originality and user behaviour.

The future of thought leadership

AI is undoubtedly set to play a role in thought leadership generation. It will be used for fact checking, ideation, structuring and even grammar and spell checking. However, it’s unlikely to replace human-driven thought leadership – that is, the creation of ideas and professional insight.

Marketers and communications professionals will play a vital role in ensuring that content produced by their organisations remains expert, authentic and trustworthy. It is original content that adds value and connects people through stories and language that strengthens human connections.

Authored by Holly Dixon, Director of Marketing & Brand – Australasia.

This article was published in the Spring 2024 issue of Financial Times.