Shaping the Future of Communication: A Dialogue Ahead of the European Summit in Venice<\/b><\/p>\n
AI, ethics, and the future of communication: a dialogue ahead of the Global Alliance\u2019s European Summit and AI Symposium, set to take place in Venice this May.<\/span><\/p>\n This interview opens the communication campaign leading up to the European Communication Summit and the AI Symposium taking place in Venice on 16 May 2025.<\/span><\/p>\n Bonnie Caver, SCMP, IABC Fellow<\/span><\/a><\/span>, – former chair of the <\/span>International Association of Business Communicators<\/span><\/a><\/span>, board member of the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management and co-facilitator of the session that will shape the Venice Pledge, a global commitment to ethical and responsible AI in communication \u2014 is interviewed by <\/span>Lorenzo Canu<\/span><\/a><\/span>,<\/span> a Master\u2019s student at the University of Amsterdam, currently writing a thesis on the EU\u2019s Trusted Flaggers mechanism and General Coordinator of <\/span>FERPILab<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Throughout the conversation, Caver offers a forward-looking reflection on the profession\u2019s evolving role in an AI-driven society, highlighting the importance of ethics, purpose, and global collaboration. The dialogue anticipates several of the core themes of the upcoming Summit and explores how communication professionals can lead technological transformation while remaining rooted in the values that define the field.<\/span><\/p>\n One of the most important aspects of the AI Symposium is its timing. We\u2019ve been in a period of ongoing change for quite a while, but it\u2019s becoming more intense. The pace is accelerating, and it feels almost like an avalanche. The change is abrupt, and it creates what I\u2019ve called a kind of \u201cwhiplash\u201d effect. We\u2019re being tossed around in the snow \u2014 some days we feel completely buried, and other days we\u2019re just being pushed from one direction to another.<\/span><\/p>\n This constant turbulence is leading to crises, reputational risks, security breaches, and a growing environment of misinformation and disinformation. And right at the center of all of this chaos is an opportunity for communication professionals. That places us in a very important role. We have an opportunity to lead and to support our organizations \u2014 and even governments \u2014 as we move through this highly volatile time.<\/span><\/p>\n Bringing everyone together at the summit is significant because we\u2019re all in different places on our AI journey. We can take some lessons we learned from COVID-19 to guide us as the world begins to regulate and implement AI. We saw this dynamic clearly during the pandemic when Italy, for example, experienced the crisis earlier than others, and its approach to communication during that time offered lessons to places like Australia or the United States, which were hit later. It showed how much we can learn from each other.<\/span><\/p>\n We\u2019re in another one of those global moments now. And while this disruption presents a chance to lead, it also highlights the need to collaborate and speak with one voice. When we act alone \u2014 as individuals or as associations limited to a single country \u2014 our impact is fragmented. That\u2019s why the Global Alliance is so important. It gives us the platform to come together, share insight, and create a stronger, unified voice. That voice is being heard, and there are organizations globally that are eager to work with us.<\/span><\/p>\n So, this summit gives us the opportunity to decide together how we want to move forward when it comes to ethical and responsible AI for the profession and how we want to lead. The timing is exactly right for that conversation.<\/span><\/p>\n Lorenzo: Your description here resonates strongly with <\/span>a paper from Jim Macnamara that I have recently read, where he focuses on the concept of Liminality<\/span><\/a><\/span> \u2014 a state of transition where normal boundaries and habits are disrupted, opening space for new thinking and reimagining. Just as Macnamara frames the pandemic as a macro-liminal moment, this summit feels like a liminal space for the communication profession. If I understand correctly, the \u201cavalanche\u201d and \u201cwhiplash\u201d you refer to capture the disorientation of being between old systems and new possibilities. But in that turbulence lies the chance to build something better \u2014 perhaps even the kind of communitas Macnamara describes, where shared vulnerability leads to renewed collective purpose.<\/span><\/p>\n I think in five years, we won\u2019t recognize our profession. It\u2019s going to change so much, and so significantly, that we have to rise to the occasion of guiding what we want our profession to look like in an AI-enabled world.<\/span><\/p>\n We\u2019re going to have to fight a battle to stay relevant because technology \u2014 at first look \u2014 seems like it can do a lot of the things people think we do. So there\u2019s an opportunity to rise to the occasion, but we have to define what our profession is, and we have to educate people on what we actually do.<\/span><\/p>\n I think we\u2019ve done a better job of that coming out of COVID-19 in terms of showing the impact we make in organizations and the value of communication. But we\u2019re not just \u201ccommunicators,\u201d and I\u2019m pretty adamant about that. When leaders look across their organizations, they want everyone to be a communicator, from software engineers to customer service to manufacturing front-line teams. But if we keep talking about ourselves as \u201ccommunicators,\u201d we become not different than everyone else and can be considered irrelevant.<\/span><\/p>\n We\u2019re professional communicator, and that means we\u2019re trained in guiding strategic communication that aligns with business goals and frankly enables an organization to thrive internally and externally in all environments. So I think there\u2019s an opportunity for us to do a lot of education about our profession. But first, we have to be futurists, we have to be listeners, and we have to be learners. Otherwise, we risk becoming a historic relic.<\/span><\/p>\n Instead, I think we can be essential leaders in a technology-enlightened society.<\/span><\/p>\n A perfect example is my son \u2014 he\u2019s an engineer. When he went to university, he had to take communication classes because the head of the engineering school said, \u201cYou won\u2019t be a successful engineer if you can\u2019t communicate.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n So, part of his curriculum included communication, and we often have conversations about it. His idea of communication and my idea of communication are night and day. And he grew up in a house with a professional communicator \u2014 two, actually, since my husband is my business partner and works in the same field. My son understands that there\u2019s a difference, but outside of our profession, people tend to think everyone\u2019s a communicator. That\u2019s where the confusion lies.<\/span><\/p>\n We’re hoping we’ll be able to gather enough data from different regions to make this work meaningful. We are really pushing for that. That\u2019s why we kept the survey open for an extra week \u2014 to make sure we get more input.<\/span><\/p>\n Just to give a little bit of history: when we started looking into responsible AI \u2014 ethical and responsible AI \u2014 last year, we began having conversations with many of our Global Alliance members. We asked: \u201cWhere are you on this journey? What have you done around this topic with your members?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n What we found is that every association already has its ethical guidelines. The Global Alliance itself has 16 principles of ethics that are fundamental to the practice of public relations and communication management. One of the key parts of that framework is that we always revert to local ethics. So, if you’re in Italy, for example, you refer to FERPI. If you are a member of PRSA, you refer to PRSA’s code.<\/span><\/p>\n What we saw early on is that ethical standards are already being applied to AI in many places. They\u2019re there. We didn’t need to recreate that part.<\/span><\/p>\n Some organizations were ahead of the curve. CIPR stepped out early and said, \u201c<\/span>Here\u2019s how our ethical standards apply to AI<\/span><\/a><\/span>.<\/span>\u201d They provided comprehensive training and playbooks. PRSA followed, saying, \u201c<\/span>Here\u2019s how we apply our standards<\/span>.<\/span><\/a>\u201d <\/span>IABC also provided its perspective<\/span><\/a><\/span>.<\/span> So we felt that, as the Global Alliance, we didn\u2019t need to go back and rework ethics from scratch.<\/span><\/p>\n Instead, we believed we needed to take that ethical foundation and move forward with it \u2014 toward responsible AI. And responsible AI goes beyond ethics. Ethics are foundational, yes, but responsibility takes us a step further.<\/span><\/p>\n I define responsible AI as the intentional and transparent integration of AI into business operations, decision-making processes, and customer experiences \u2014 in ways that uphold your organization\u2019s values, build stakeholder trust, and protect people from unintended harm. That\u2019s responsible AI. And it\u2019s broader than simply applying ethical standards.<\/span><\/p>\n So, when we created the Global Alliance\u2019s first document on ethical and responsible AI, we didn\u2019t try to redefine ethics. Other than stating that the number one principle is ethical rigor. Ethics are already foundational to our profession.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n And to our knowledge, no other organization has yet addressed responsible AI in our profession in this way. That\u2019s why this work is so important. This document is a collaboration among our members, and it provides us with a unified voice \u2014 a shared view of how the public relations and communication profession should approach responsible AI on a global scale.<\/span><\/p>\n That\u2019s also why we included professional development and advocacy in the original set of guidelines. We knew from the beginning that this space would be constantly evolving. We need to develop our profession to be ready for an AI-enabled future. But we also have to be clear advocates \u2014 saying what is right and what is not.<\/span><\/p>\n And we need to be the voice that stands up and says: This is not acceptable. Misinformation is not acceptable. Disinformation is not acceptable. Using AI to do either of those things is not acceptable.<\/span><\/p>\n We\u2019re just at the beginning. Now, we have to finalize what responsible AI looks like for us as a profession. One thing I think is still missing \u2014 and something we\u2019ll talk about \u2014 is a \u201cdo no harm\u201d clause. I\u2019ve been talking to people outside the communication field, and many of them emphasize how critical that idea is in the broader AI conversation. I think we should consider including it.<\/span><\/p>\n And then we need to ask ourselves, as a community: Is this where we want to take a stand? And do we want to do it together, with a collaborative voice?<\/span><\/p>\n That\u2019s why there\u2019s so much pre-work happening before the summit. You mentioned the survey, but we\u2019re also having conversations with our regional councils \u2014 including some that won\u2019t be at the summit. The <\/span>European Regional Council of the Global Alliance<\/span><\/span><\/a> is working with FERPI to host the event, but we want to make sure we\u2019re hearing from every region, across the globe.<\/span><\/p>\n There\u2019s a lot of work happening in preparation for this, so when we come together, we can have a truly collaborative conversation.<\/span><\/p>\n Once we agree on the principles, we\u2019ll need to ask: Are they right? How do we define them clearly? What\u2019s missing? How do we make them actionable? How do we train our profession? What tools do we need to support people in applying them?<\/span><\/p>\n Ultimately, we need to create something that lives \u2014 something that becomes part of the DNA of our profession.<\/span><\/p>\n That\u2019s why we\u2019re calling it the Venice Pledge. That\u2019s the goal. We don\u2019t just walk away with a statement \u2014 we walk away with a pledge to act, and to make responsible AI a reality in organizations across the world.<\/span><\/p>\n I think that every time the Global Alliance comes together \u2014 and every time our regional councils meet \u2014 this will become part of the conversation. Just as we regularly talk about the 18th Sustainable Development Goals and responsible communication, I believe this, too, will become a core focus of our shared mission.<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s essential to keep the conversation going. We can\u2019t just throw out a document and assume we\u2019re done. This field is evolving every day, and our approach needs to evolve with it.<\/span><\/p>\n Lorenzo: Your emphasis on embedding responsible AI into the DNA of the profession reminded me of the thinking behind the Global PR & Communication Model 2021. Together with Biagio Oppi, we worked on the Italian translation and <\/span>developed a thesis – later published and available here – that explored its application in the national context.<\/span><\/span><\/a> One of the Model\u2019s key insights is the role of communication professionals as internal advisors \u2014 helping organizations integrate Purpose, Brand and Culture, Reputation and Risk, Communication, and Measurement into strategic decision-making. What you describe \u2014 turning values like Ethics and Responsibility into lived, operational practice \u2014 aligns closely with that vision. The Model calls on professionals not just to communicate around these pillars but to embed them in the very structure of how organizations create and sustain value.<\/span><\/p>\n I have hope. I always have hope because we live by ethical and professional strategic standards such as the Global Capability Framework. And that\u2019s what makes the difference between being a communication professional and being just a communicator.<\/span><\/p>\n We have a lot of work to do, but our profession has evolved before, and I believe it will continue to evolve. We just need to be proactive \u2014 as learners, teachers, and collaborators.<\/span><\/p>\n What gives me the most hope is the opportunity we have to lead. We can be a leader in this transformation, a leading voice in how it unfolds. And that\u2019s where I see the potential. We can talk beyond technology because technology, in the end, should be used to advance the human race. It should help shape the future in ways that support our ability to work, to invent, and to build a better society.<\/span><\/p>\n Technology should help us do all of those things. But it\u2019s up to us to keep doing what makes our profession \u2014 and our impact \u2014 truly human-centric.<\/span><\/p>\n As communication professionals, we already do so much of that work. We bring genuine creativity, critical thinking, and social authenticity. These are uniquely human skills. And they\u2019re the strengths that can help us lead through this process of transformation.<\/span><\/p>\n We just have to be willing to step up and say, \u201cWe\u2019re leading.\u201d And then we have to do it. We need to be proactive in that leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n Because we do have a tendency \u2014 as a profession \u2014 to get caught up in tools. We get wrapped up in tactics. If we let that define us, we risk turning our profession into a historic relic.<\/span><\/p>\n Lorenzo: What you said about the importance of stepping forward and taking responsibility resonated with me. I believe the Global Alliance is a strong example of what it means to walk the talk. It doesn\u2019t just speak about Ethics and Responsibility \u2014 it takes action to promote them. A recent example is the launch of the #NextInLine \u2013 Young Responsible Communicators initiative, which highlights a new generation of professionals who are committed to living these values. <\/span>I was honored to be among those nominated<\/span><\/a><\/span>, and it made me reflect on how essential it is not just to know ethical principles but to embody them in practice. It\u2019s encouraging to see that these values are not just being written into frameworks \u2014 they\u2019re being brought to life through people and real-world action.<\/span><\/p>\n Any thoughts or opinions expressed are that of the authors and not of Global Alliance.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Shaping the Future of Communication: A Dialogue Ahead of the European Summit in Venice AI, ethics, and the future of communication: a dialogue ahead of the Global Alliance\u2019s European Summit and AI Symposium, set to take place in Venice this May. This interview opens the communication campaign leading up to the European Communication Summit and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21529,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"custom_button_link":""},"categories":[167,170],"tags":[165],"class_list":["post-24415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insights-list","category-technology-trends-and-communication-transformation","tag-business"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/client.digityze.asia\/globalalliancepr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/client.digityze.asia\/globalalliancepr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/client.digityze.asia\/globalalliancepr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/client.digityze.asia\/globalalliancepr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/client.digityze.asia\/globalalliancepr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24415"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/client.digityze.asia\/globalalliancepr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24415\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/client.digityze.asia\/globalalliancepr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/client.digityze.asia\/globalalliancepr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/client.digityze.asia\/globalalliancepr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/client.digityze.asia\/globalalliancepr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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