What Should Biotechs Consider Before Diving Into ChatGPT?
ChatGPT, and AI in general, is getting a lot of attention. From the promise of content creation at lightning speed to the godfather of AI leaving Google warning of the dangers of AI, the future isn’t exactly clear. What we do know is that there is a lot of hype, so as communicators and believers in the written word, our MacDougall team has been debating the pros and cons associated with this evolving technology for communications purposes.
Read on for some considerations our clients in the life sciences industry need to consider before leaving press release writing to a chat bot.
Is your content private?
In biotech, the future of your company can hang on the communications rollout of your next big milestone. Did you just raise an impressive Series A financing? Congratulations! Working with a chat bot to increase efficiency, even for smaller content elements like your social media post, could put your entire investment announcement at risk. It’s clear that AIs are getting smarter day by day as they analyze new information and adjust their algorithms to the data you are sharing. Whose information exactly are they using? Your company’s confidential updates? As technology users and communications professionals, we need more intel into how any and all data is stored before providing it with highly confidential information that has not yet been announced publicly.
Does your AI understand material information?
We advise many public companies and help prepare their quarterly earnings reports and guide them through their public announcements. The nuances associated with understanding what is material and what is immaterial takes a blend of education, strategy and critical thinking. Accidentally releasing information that is material prior to an official announcement can have real, negative implications for public companies, that not only can be embarrassing, but may also reflect in your stock price, stockholder perception and overall credibility.
Are you signaling toward future milestones?
Any life science company worth their salt has a multi-year pipeline with key milestones that are imperative to their future success. Perhaps you know in eight quarters you will expand your therapeutic target and want to ensure you’re not communicating the exact opposite in a press release today about your Phase I results. There is an incredible amount of nuance, long-term thinking and strategy in the biotech industry that will likely get lost with using a chat bot to write your press release or content aimed at key audiences and stakeholders.
If you’d talked to believers of self-driving cars a decade ago, they’d argue that no one would need their driver’s license by the year 2025. One delay has been understanding, and agreeing on, who is to blame when things go wrong with this technology. While we’re seeing some interesting applications in healthcare, we predict this kind of disagreement could stall the rollout of AI as well for use in corporate communications. Until that day comes, and beyond, we’re here to tell your story.
Tried ChatGPT and looking for trusted professionals (humans) to support your company’s communications strategy? Download MacDougall’s one-pager to learn more about our service offerings across public relations, investor relations and creative.