I was at a seminar on Machine Learning recently. A topic I have been quite intrigued about. And there was one slide that stood out which spoke of how we humans need to ensure some of the qualities to our nature stand out no matter how evolved artificial intelligence gets. I want to share my takeaways from that slide and link it to our amazing profession both in terms of what we do and what we can be:
INTELLIGENT: We humans are born intelligent and that is why we are superior to all other animals. We do not apply this intelligence at times. Public Relations is a profession that is made for intelligent people to excel. There are various ways to bring out the intelligence in us. And the more we learn continuously the more we are able to be sharp in the world of business.
GENIUS: There is a Genius in each one of us. It is upto us to find out what we excel in and focus on that. Some of us maybe great content creators but not great at connecting with stakeholders, some of us may understand crisis communication better than counselling leaders. We need to figure out our strengths and play them to our advantage for our own professional growth.
GENEROUS: We need to be generous with our time and talent for constructive purposes. Very often we do miss opportunities that open doors to more because we were not generous. Generosity does not have to be strategic but should definitely not let dignity be compromised. Sometimes the best ideas thrive when we do pro-bono work.
GENUINE: Being genuine is the only way. Faking it is never an option. As public relations professionals we are exposed to challenging situations. It is best to be our real selves and not try and be someone else. In today’s times it maybe difficult at times but it is certainly possible to be genuine and make a difference to the many lives with whom our paths cross.
AGENT: We do not work in agencies but in firms or consultancies. We are certainly agents of change, however. No machines can change this. We evolve to understand empathy and we try and make a positive difference in the lives of people. We have it in us to make a real impact in how we conduct ourselves.
LEGEND: If we do all of the above in right earnest it would help us make legends out of ordinary men and women by doing some legendary work and become legends ourselves. Our goal should be to become legends. Whether the world confers that status on us or not does not matter as long as we can tell ourselves that we tried to get there.
Lastly, I want to end this note by saying that the threat from artificial intelligence is real and scary. The future of jobs will be drastically different, and we will see that change in the next 5-7 years. I hope we can make these six GEN words our guiding light as we get ready to deal with machines which are created to collaborate but at times will collide with us.
He is also the Founding Dean of the School of Communications & Reputation (SCoRe).
He can be reached at @amithpr on twitter.
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