In this edition of Ask the Expert, we interview Yvonne Samaritani, co-founder and co-head of the agency JUNE. As an experienced communications professional, both for external and internal communications, she gives us insights into the impact of AI tools and practical examples of their use by today's communications professionals.
Yvonne, who are you and what is your connection to internal communication?
I am co-founder and co-head of the agency JUNE. We advise companies on internal and external corporate communications. Initially, I was mainly interested in external communication. I was a journalist for twelve years. When I switched to communications - first at XING, then at the Federation of Migros Cooperatives - I became increasingly enthusiastic about the power and opportunities that lie in internal communications. In consulting, internal communication is super exciting because we can find out so much about the company and its potential in such a short space of time.
We all know the hype surrounding AI tools - has it also reached internal communications departments and teams?
Ai tools are more than a temporary phenomenon: applicable in all industries, efficiency gains, influence on business models, discussions on ethics…
Hype versus reality - can AI tools really help internal communication professionals today?
There are many types of AI tools, from chatbots to support for content creation and search. Which do you think have the greatest potential to bring real added value for companies and employees?
At the agency, we are currently focusing on three that we believe offer real added value for corporate communications: ChatGPT for tasks such as workshop design, idea brainstorming or text creation, DALL-E to generate images and Perplexity for research.
Ai is developing so rapidly that you can practically do away with everything static in the application, including the saving of good prompts.
What was the most important realization for you in relation to AI last year?
Keep at it. I recommend the following idea: We order lunch to the office once a month and show each other what we are trying out. Keeping at it means constantly taking each other along on the journey. AI is developing so rapidly that you can save yourself practically everything that is static in terms of application, including the filing of good prompts.
What are your favorite AI tools that you might also use privately on a daily basis?
ChatGPT on the smartphone. I'm on the road a lot during the day and love the voice function. In other words, I talk to ChatGPT about building concepts and strategies. And in the evenings, I ask, for example, which Yotam Ottolenghi cookbook I can find the pasta with chickpeas in again. Or I ask: "Hey Chat, what funny sentences could we use to practise the sh sound with our son?" ... Look at the sheep sleeping in the meadow.
