How AI will power the future of business communication

Remember that scene from Dr. Dolittle where Eddie Murphy talked down a tiger from a ledge? 

It seemed bizarre then. But thanks to AI, this ability to decode animal communication will soon be within our reach.

Of course, it’s not that simple. But it is possible. And that’s what makes this AI-powered future so exciting, especially for business communication. 

Generative AI has already changed the way we communicate. Chatbots like ChatGPT promise effective content creation, making internal and external communication more efficient.

In fact, IT leaders look at generative AI as a game changer. Even skeptics who think the technology is overhyped agree that generative AI will help improve the customer experience.

The main fear, of course, is whether you can trust a third-party tool to safeguard your data. After Samsung’s workers inadvertently leaked trade secrets via ChatGPT, companies have naturally been more cautious.

The solution? Native integrations and in-built features in apps you already love and use. Think automated call summaries, AI-powered customer insights, and auto-generated status updates. These generative AI tools will change how we work forever. 

Slack GPT

Introducing the ChatGPT app was just the first step of Slack’s vision for generative AI. With Slack GPT, a natively integrated conversation AI experience, they’re all in. 

Slack GPT will allow organizations to integrate AI-powered apps and use different language models. 

So the next time you’re back from a break, you won’t have to play catch-up on Slack. With built-in generative AI, you’ll be able to read conversation summaries. 

Plus, if you’re worried about how you sound (and that’s a real concern in hybrid and remote work environments), Slack GPT will help you tweak your messages and adjust your tone. 

Read: How AI Will Impact the Future of Work (And What That Means for You)

Slack GPT will also work with Einstein GPT — an app that helps access secure customer data insights from Salesforce Customer 360 and Data Cloud.

So when customer service teams are stumped by an issue, Einstein GPT may be able to auto-generate case summaries that provide much-needed context to efficiently and quickly close the ticket. 

Microsoft 365 Copilot

Microsoft’s Copilot, advertised as “your copilot for work”, combines large language models (LLMs) with data in Microsoft 365 apps and Microsoft Graph to help you unlock more productivity. 

Copilot is embedded in Microsoft 365 apps. For instance, you can use Copilot in Word to get a jump on your first draft. Similarly, Copilot in PowerPoint and Excel can help you generate presentations and data visualizations in mere seconds.

But that’s not all. Microsoft’s new feature Business Chat works across the LLMs, your data, and Microsoft 365 to act on your natural language prompts. You can tell it to summarize your new product feature, or prepare a status update for the team on your new OKRs. 

Copilot features are also available in Viva Sales — it can recap the call, outline the next steps and update the CRM at the end of sales meetings. 

Microsoft plans to bring Copilot to all its apps in the months ahead. It’s currently being tested with a small group of customers with plans to expand soon. 

Google’s Bard and Help Me Write

Bard, an LLM chatbot developed by Google AI, is still under development. But with its default access to the internet, it’s already a step above ChatGPT. Plus, you can export answers to Google Docs and Gmail. 

We asked Bard what features it’ll have in the future, and here’s what it said:

“Bard is still under development, but it is constantly learning and improving. As Bard continues to learn, it will be able to do more and more things. Here are some of the future features that Bard is expected to have:

• Multimodal capabilities: Bard is currently able to understand and respond to text-based prompts. However, in the future, Bard is expected to be able to understand and respond to multimodal prompts, such as text, images, and audio. This will allow Bard to have a more comprehensive understanding of the world and to provide more helpful and informative responses.
• Better creativity: Bard is currently able to generate creative text formats, such as poems, code, scripts, musical pieces, email, and letters. However, in the future, Bard is expected to be able to generate even more creative content, such as paintings, sculptures, and music. This will allow Bard to help people be more creative and to express themselves in new and innovative ways.
• More robust knowledge base: Bard is currently able to access and process information from a massive dataset of text and code. However, in the future, Bard is expected to have a more robust knowledge base, which will allow it to provide more comprehensive and informative responses. This will make Bard an even more valuable tool for learning, research, and problem-solving.
• Better ability to learn and adapt: Bard is currently able to learn and adapt to new information and situations. However, in the future, Bard is expected to be able to learn and adapt even more effectively. This will make Bard a more powerful tool for communication, collaboration, and creativity.”

Bard’s future abilities to generate even more helpful and concise answers will revolutionize Search.

But for now, let’s hope that Google can help make writing emails less terrifying. Google’s Help Me Write feature for Gmail promises to turn one-line prompts into full-fledged emails. This feature is being rolled out in phases and is currently free to use for all users.

Airspeed’s AI-enabled Shoutouts and Celebrations Slack apps

Giving kudos and celebrating wins are small, yet meaningful ways to keep employees engaged and recognize their hard work.

Recognition also impacts productivity. In fact, Nectar HR’s survey found that 75% of workers would be more productive if they received praise more frequently. And best practices suggest employees should be recognized on a weekly basis. 

But it can be hard doling out praise at scale. Imagine having to write hundreds of these messages celebrating milestones or highlighting good work every single week.

Airspeed’s AI-enabled Slack apps—Shoutouts and Celebrations—can help you craft the perfect message while nailing the tone and powering more frequent employee recognition.  

Just add important details you want to be mentioned, select the tone of voice, and click on “Generate a message with AI.” It’s that simple!

AI is powerful but not perfect (yet)

Even though a lot of generative AI tools will help us do what we’ve never been able to do, business communication will still require human oversight. 

Apart from the usual data and security concerns, generative AI runs the risk of fabricating information.

ChatGPT and Bard both warn users about the risk of factual errors. Even Microsoft warns users that Copilot may be “usefully wrong,” which is code for don’t blindly depend on its output.

These “experiments” cannot replicate the human touch.

We might find ourselves in a twisted Black Mirror episode where our AI assistants know us so well, they can talk like us without going rogue. But for now, we’ll have to make do with imperfect (yet useful) generative AI tools. 

Want to get a jump ahead? Airspeed’s Celebrations and Shoutouts Slack apps are available now for free: limited spots available.