Hi friends ๐๐ป
This week, some thoughts about how AI is impacting nonprofit communications teams, and what this means for my business. I'd love to hear your thoughts and responses. Hit reply and let me know how this lands.
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Solving problems
I think of my business as fundamentally about solving problems.
More specifically:
- Solving problems that relate to communications and digital strategy
- Solving problems for people tasked with communications and marketing in nonprofit organizations
There are lots of reasons why this is what I do, but a simple one is that I've worked in those roles and experienced those problems, and I know how to approach solving a lot of them.
The problems we face change
(Can you see the AI part coming yet?)
Over time, particularly in this field, the tools, technologies, and expectations of audiences change, quickly.
The proliferation of AI tools is the latest example, and it's a big one.
The way I see it, big changes like this create new problems AND present new ways to tackle problems. In order to understand how my business might need to shift and evolve, I try to keep track of these changes. I'll list a few below.
If some of these resonate with you, or if there are big things missing from these lists, hit reply and let me know!
First, before getting into the problems, I'll acknowledge what feels obvious: AI platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini all us to do things we couldn't do before. We can crank out a bunch of written content at the speed of light, with a machine trained on our brand voice and past publications. We can create images without needing a designer. We can save hours on data analysis without needing to learn Python. This list feels endless.
Yet as I said above, I'm curious about how this new reality shifts the experience of the average nonprofit comms team. What new problems emerge?
Problems the rise of AI creates (or exacerbates)
- Under-resourced nonprofit comms teams are expected to be able to do even more work with the same resources (by using AI)
- AI tool outputs reinforce and perpetuate biases, undermining efforts to address systemic racism, misogyny, ableism (or simply making those things worse)
- Over-reliance on AI tools disconnects us from the content we produce, and degrades our critical thinking skills
- Use of AI in nonprofit work creates new risks and compliance challenges
- AI tools make it easy to feel like you've solved a complex problem, and if you don't know what questions to ask, you might miss important details
I'm interested in tracking what new problems nonprofit orgs are facing in communications and digital work, and how AI is changing the problems we had before.
So what does this mean for my business?
New ways to tackle problems? And new problems to tackle.
I'm not worried about AI making my business irrelevant, despite the volume of (AI-generated) LinkedIn posts telling me everyone can build a website now.
Sure, lots of us can prompt their way to a website now. That's a real change. But is it a good website? Does it actually do what you need your website to do? Can search engines and AI tools even see it? (Yes that's a real problem) Do you know how to update it? Even when you've hit your usage cap for the week?
The list of new and exacerbated problems above all shift how I work with nonprofit clients โ when you're facing new problems, my approach has to shift because my goal is to make my clients' lives easier!
And AI offers new ways for me to solve problems. Across my business there are places where AI tools have allowed me to speed up previously manual processes, meaning I can deliver more powerful solutions to clients. That's great. It's a win for me and a win for the client.
But I haven't gone all in on prompting my way to building a client website because it doesn't solve the problems client's are facing. Maybe it will one day, but not yet.
What new problems has AI created in your work life?
And what has AI unlocked?
Hit reply. I'd love to hear from you.
Until next time โจ
โ Ed Harris (your digital strategy guide)
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