Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the most significant digital advancements in recent years, so how are charities responding?
Each year the CharityComms Salary and Organisational Culture Survey provides up-to-date insights into the changes in salary levels and workplace practices for in-house charity communicators. Our 2023 survey included a new section which asked participants how they are using AI within their organisations.
49% of those surveyed said they are using AI to support their work, but what about the others? While 27% of people said they do not currently use AI and have no plans to, 24% said they aren’t quite there yet, but do plan to use AI in the future.
In this blog, we explore what the data is telling us about the role and impact of AI for charity communications.
How AI is being used for work
Of those who told us they do use AI, the most cited use was for comms or marketing copywriting (25% overall), followed by event transcription (12%) and design (10%). This pattern mirrors other reports, like the WordPress VIP ‘Content Matters Martech Trends Report 2023’, citing that ‘creative assistance… tops the use cases for AI’. This report, however, highlights that other sectors have larger adoption levels, with figures showing that ‘41% [of their respondents were] using it for design and illustration, 39% for creating social media assets and 38% for writing copy.’
How communicators are using AI seems to be affected to a certain extent by charity size. 31% of survey participants working at small or medium charities (up to 100 employees) say they are using AI for copywriting, dropping to 18% of people working at larger charities (more than 101 employees). 5% of small or medium charities said they use a chatbot on their website, rising to 10% from larger charities.
Looking at qualitative data from our survey, other uses include creative planning (including idea generation), internal comms and translation. However, some charity communicators are waiting to see what their IT team recommend as the best AI tools to use before they start.
Job role also seems to impact how people implement AI within their work.18% of digital or social media specialists surveyed are using AI for design work (compared to 10% of communicators surveyed), rising to 40% of respondents using AI to assist with comms or marketing copywriting (compared to 25% overall).
Remote working also appears to influence attitudes towards AI – 39% of remote workers who don’t currently use AI say they have plans to use AI in the future, compared to 24% of survey participants overall. The driving force may be how embedded digital is in their working lives and processes.
Some practical ways AI can save time
Looking at our data and how others in the sector are currently using AI, here are just some of the ways we can use AI as a “universal intern” to make us more productive.
- Carrying out initial research – generative AI is being used increasingly more as a search engine, as it helps to collate the results and synthesis the information rather than just providing a list of further reading.
- Taking care of repetitive tasks – whether it’s a chatbot answering frequently asked questions or AI-generated reports, AI can free us up to focus on more problem solving, creative or people-driven work.
- Saving time on bigger projects – AI can help analyse massive amounts of data from multiple sources and then provide summaries. AI can perform sentiment analysis where you’ve got lots of free-text responses from a survey and want to identify patterns. It can also summarise information from long-form content to highlight trends or pull out key information.
- Generating initial ideas – if you’re stuck with a blank screen or notebook and just need a few prompts to get started, AI can pull together some first thoughts. Once you’re a bit further down the road, it can also review your draft and recommend changes.
Of course, the human element in this work remains crucial, as do the considerations around ethics. This point nicely leads us onto some of the barriers and concerns around using AI.
Potential barriers to fully embracing AI
Investigating the reasons behind why individuals or organisations might be reluctant to use AI in their work, the main concern cited was the risk of misinformation by 69% of respondents (increasing to 77% of those working at larger charities).
Other factors included unintended bias (51%), concerns about copyright infringement (48%) and potential data breaches (45%). Points at the lower end of the scale included structural inequality, which was mentioned by 27% of respondents, followed by the environmental impact by 18%.
In the comments, lack of knowledge, skills and resources were overwhelmingly listed as other reasons behind a reluctance to move forward with using AI. One respondent said it was due to, “not having the time to fully understand or make the most of it.”
Looking in-depth at the qualitative data we find the main concerns to explore, include:
- Lack of knowledge or expertise, leading to uncertainty about the possible implementation and effectiveness of AI.
- Insufficient resources, including funding, capacity and staff expertise.
- Not enough training and capacity-building initiatives to provide staff with the necessary skills to leverage AI effectively.
- Knowing its impact, particularly around the quality of the resulting work and how its tone of voice fits with other, human-led content.
- Apprehensions about unethical practices, data privacy and quality control.
- Cost and technical barriers, including initial investment, implementation, ongoing maintenance and possible accessibility issues.
- Defining its relevance, with questions around whether AI is necessary for their organisation’s current needs or stage of development.
The case for clarity and buy-in
Just 4% said they have an AI policy or guidelines in place to support staff, with 14% saying they are working on one.
Charity size does appear to have an impact on the capacity to work on policies and procedures around AI, with 7% of those working at large charities indicating they already have a policy in place, and 21% saying they are working towards one.
While many might recognise the importance of exploring generative AI and its place in our working lives, that’s not the same as having the capacity or confidence to take advantage of it.
Having official policies and procedures in place not only gives staff the reassurance that their organisation is serious about investing in new ways of working but also creates a sense of ownership in their ability to test and learn.
“So instead of saying, ‘you’re not allowed to use that tool; you need to stop’, our approach now is one of saying, ‘tell us what you’re looking at and we’ll find a way to support you in doing it safely, and maybe we can all learn from it’.”
Matt Corbishley, deputy chief executive of Ashgate Hospice, speaking on the Third Sector Podcast: Placing people at the forefront of tech innovations
Like so many digital advances before it, using AI can be another valuable way for charity communicators to save time, streamline operations and, ultimately, increase their impact. Maintaining a human element is more than just being consistent with our tone of voice and messaging, it’s remembering and valuing the people behind the tech. So how we support and upskill our teams in their use of AI is crucial in making it an equitable, effective and sustainable tool for those working in charity communications.
Visit the CharityComms AI Hub – it’s filled with updates and resources to help charity communications teams navigate the dynamic world of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Banner Image: randa marzouk on Unsplash
