It’s not just jobs that AI will affect. It’s the perception that employees have important expertise. After all, if AI can do the work, it’s easy to view employees’ special knowledge and experience as less important to the organization. Neville and Shel examine the steps communicators can take to continue to be viewed by leaders as subject matter experts who expertise brings value to the company. Also in this episode:

• The publishing platform Ghost is enabling technology to embed it in the fediverse.
• New studies reveal that bad communication is leading employees to leave their jobs.
• A national UK newspaper has launched AI-curated news for “time-poor audiences.”
• Unilever is stepping back from its purposeful activities, opting to invest heavily in influencer marketing.
• Have fans of your brand given it a nickname? New research suggests you probably shouldn’t use it.
• Dan York reports on the Internet Engineering Task Force’s work on a way for websites to signal what AI can collect and process.

Links from this episode:

• The social web beta is here
• Social web (beta)
• Substack rival Ghost is now connected to the fediverse
• Newsletter platform Ghost adopts ActivityPub to ‘bring back the open web’
• Ghost Connects Creators Across the Social Web
• The Social Web Foundation
• Communication breakdown: 61% of employees unlikely to stay in their job cite poor communication among top reasons
• Survey Results: People take Pride in Their Jobs
• Independent launching AI-powered news service for ‘time-poor audiences’
• BBC News to create AI department to offer more personalised content
• The LA Times’ AI Experiment Sparks Backlas
• How Gen AI Could Change the Value of Expertise
• LinkedIn Skills on the Rise 2025: The 15 fastest-growing skills in the US
• Companies’ biggest barrier to AI isn’t tech — it’s employee pushback. Here’s how to overcome it.
• Farewell Photoshop? Google’s new AI lets you edit images by asking.
• Unilever swaps social purpose for social media as new CEO calls brands “suspicious”
• Ben & Jerry’s claims CEO was unlawfully fired over political issues
• Why Brands Should Avoid Using the Catchy Nicknames Consumers Give Them
• How nicknames may weaken brands

Links from Dan York’s Tech Report

• IETF’s AI Preferences Task Force (you are welcome to join the mailing list and participate)

The next monthly, long-form episode of FIR will drop on Monday, April 28.

We host a Communicators Zoom Chat most Thursdays at 1 p.m. ET. To obtain the credentials needed to participate, contact Shel or Neville directly, request them in our Facebook group, or email fircomments@gmail.com.

Special thanks to Jay Moonah for the opening and closing music.

You can find the stories from which Shel’s FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog. Shel has started a metaverse-focused Flipboard magazine. You can catch up with both co-hosts on

Neville’s blog and Shel’s blog.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this podcast are Shel’s and Neville’s and do not reflect the views of their employers and/or clients.

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