In defending and enhancing reputation, communications functions have the 360 view of the organization and interconnections between both internal and external stakeholders.
Given the broad nature of risks and opportunities associated with AI adoption, that panoramic view is particularly helpful in the creation of AI policies.
Using the Corporate Governance Institute’s “Ten Steps to Creating an AI Policy” as a reference, here are 10 ways communications teams can contribute expertise throughout the policy development process.
Also read: Why communications professionals must participate in AI governance decisions
1. Establish a working group
Communications contribution: Stakeholder mapping
Communications teams should identify stakeholder groups affected by AI, map influence and trust, and ensure overlooked voices are represented, including employees, accessibility specialists, customer experience teams, Indigenous relations advisors, unions, and frontline staff.
2. Define the purpose and scope of the policy
Communications contribution: Positioning alignment
Translate technical objectives into plain language and align policies with core organizational values.
3. Conduct risk assessments
Communications contribution: Reputation and issues mapping
Flag AI-related reputation risks and analyze scenarios involving misinformation, bias, privacy, media scrutiny, and backlash, while evaluating social acceptability.
4. Establish ethical guidelines
Communications contribution: Trust and transparency framing
Clarify ethical principles, challenge vague language, and, in collaboration with Legal and Compliance, recommend specific transparency and disclosure standards.
5. Define roles and responsibilities
Communications contribution: Governance communications design
Help define who communicates during incidents, who approves AI-generated content, who owns internal communications, and how escalation processes work during reputation-sensitive situations. This contributes to clearer accountability structures.
6. Develop employee training and awareness
Communications contribution: Change management communications
Help create the sense of urgency needed to activate transformation and develop communication strategies to implement the change, supported by a relevant cascade of tactics for each audience, including leadership messages, onboarding materials, training campaigns, and employee listening mechanisms to support policy adoption.
7. Create usage guidelines and procedures
Communications contribution: Content governance and brand protection
Set standards for AI-assisted content creation, disclosure requirements, human review, brand voice consistency, synthetic media use, and approval workflows, including where they intersect with other business lines and functions.
8. Monitor compliance and performance
Communications contribution: Trust and sentiment monitoring
Monitor media coverage, employee sentiment, stakeholder feedback, social conversations, and reputation indicators related to AI use over time.
9. Prepare for crisis scenarios
Communications contribution: AI crisis communications preparedness
Help modernize crisis preparedness for AI-related incidents.
AI-enabled simulations make crisis training more dynamic. In addition to scheduled scenario training, teams can conduct unannounced drills in which some key staff may be unavailable, more closely resembling real conditions.
Communications expertise, combined with AI tools, can strengthen scenario simulation, escalation procedures, executive briefing templates, media response preparation, and holding statements.
10. Review and update the policy regularly
Communications contribution: External environment scanning
Track evolving public expectations, regulatory discussions, activist concerns, media narratives, and emerging industry trends related to AI.
Communications does more than just communicate the AI policy after it is written.
Communications help organizations understand stakeholders, anticipate trust risks, build transparency, support change, and protect credibility as AI adoption increases.
Contact Y Perspective to increase the value of your communications.
