machine learning

Commenting: A matter of perspective

Neville Hobson Artificial Intelligence, Communication, Innovation, Mainstream Media, Online Media, Public Relations, Social Media, Social Networks, Society, Software, Technology, Web, Weblogs
Google Perspective

One of the great benefits offered by the social web is the open way in which people can connect, not only via the obvious means of social networks but also through engaging in discourse and conversation in the commenting sections of websites, blogs, etc. Open conversation and the sharing of different points of view are foundational activities for many online publications, from mainstream media sites to individual blogs. To many, enabling readers, visitors and communities to comment on articles, reports, posts, etc, is the whole point of being online: to engage in conversation; to surface different points of view and opinion; to foster connectivity between people that helps enable greater understanding of others’ perspectives, and advance the conversation. Over the […]

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Enhance your skills with cognitive PR

Neville Hobson 9 Comments Artificial Intelligence, Business, Communication, IBM, Innovation, Professional Development, Public Relations, Software, Technology, Trends, Web

Get set for increased automation and bot use in public relations, says Toby Daniels, founder of Social Media Week, in an interview with PR Week magazine. He says: The most significant thing that will happen in the next 12 to 24 months, particularly for PR, is the automation of communication – where bots and chatbots in particular start to step in and take over an aspect of communication, particularly in terms of how businesses communicate with customers. This is a topic that’s in the headlines frequently, often in the context of how robots will take over with us humans becoming expendable in the work context. Indeed, reporting often cites examples of how this is already happening or is planned to, […]

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A checkpoint conversation on AI and machine learning in PR

Neville Hobson 8 Comments Artificial Intelligence, Business, Communication, IBM, Interviews, Podcasting, Public Relations, Social Media, Society, Software, Technology, Trends, Workplace

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are two subjects in which I’ve long had interest, especially as they relate to organizational change, people’s behaviours and communication, and the future of work. This keen interest is a prime reason why I joined IBM earlier this year, and has intensified as I’ve got to know a great deal about cognitive computing and, of course, IBM Watson. They are both areas where I have some clear views on what this means for organizational communication (including public relations), eg, automation in the workplace. So I was thrilled to be invited by Chip Griffin to join him in conversation in his latest episode of the “Chats with Chip” podcast to discuss such topics. I’ve known Chip […]

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The rise of the cognitive PR machines

Neville Hobson 43 Comments Business, Communication, IBM, Innovation, Online Media, Public Relations, Social Business, Social Media, Society, Software, Technology, Trends, Web

Within two years, 20 percent of business content will be authored by machines or “robo writers,” as Gartner puts it in its list of ten predictions of an algorithmic and smart machine-driven world that the analyst firm published last October. It was a topic I used as a focal point in my presentation about PR measurement and how it’s getting smarter partly through automation that captured close attention from the 50+ PR pros in the audience at a CIPR event in London last week. Content that is based on data and analytical information will be turned into natural language writing by technologies that can proactively assemble and deliver information through automated composition engines. Content currently written by people – such […]

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