PART SIX: *Looking Ahead - Artificial Intelligence*
When it comes to summarizing an executive’s talking points, building investor presentations, and even drafting press releases, some IROs have found a new assistant: AI.
Although many IROs have yet to explore generative AI, this new technology has the potential to transform core job functions.
Stakeholder Identification/Targeting
AI holds the promise of being a tremendous boon to targeting. Already, IROs are using tools that perform much of the heavy lifting of targeting by identifying prospective investors that score well on whatever metrics have been deemed important.
AI algorithms make the old saws of targeting — look at companies that own your peers but not you, look at geographies where you’re underrepresented — far easier to carry out. In addition, AI algorithms can identify which types of communications will be most powerful with a particular audience, making it easier to tailor content.
Beyond targeting, AI unlocks the possibility of IROs communicating with each investor in a way that’s customized and appropriate to their needs.
Take communicating during a proxy vote, for example. AI might help companies direct customized messages to long-term and large shareholders, referencing the length of their relationship and explaining pertinent details.
Almost everyone agrees that the best way to understand AI is to try it.
While “ChatGPT” has become a sort of shorthand for AI, there are a wealth of other AI tools out there with the potential to make common IR tasks easier, allowing IROs to focus on more strategic work.
As of October 2023, the database site There's an AI For That lists 8,471 AI tools that can help with 2,255 separate tasks.
As AI moves from buzzword to practice, it’s important to put precautions in place.
First, it’s critical to understand the difference between public and private AI. At the current moment, it is extremely unwise to put proprietary information into a public AI program because it’s not yet known how the data is being used.
Because IROs work with such sensitive content, it’s important to create comprehensive AI usage policies, should be carefully vetted by a company’s general counsel and/or chief information security officer.
AI and the Human Touch
AI’s tendency to hallucinate and make factual errors is the subject of countless news articles. For this reason, every piece of AI-generated content that will be shared with employees, shareholders, and potential investors must be reviewed and verified by a person.
