Whether we believe it or not it is only a matter of time that Artificial Intelligence is going to control the whole of our life’s space. The development of AI has enabled computer systems to perform tasks that would require special human intelligence – at a much larger scale than a human could on his own, especially in the area of speech recognition, visual perception, and decision making.
When Amazon offers suggestions based on your browsing history or when Cortana answers your question or even when your air conditioner’s thermostat adjusts the temperature automatically to save your electric bill that is AI.
AI has made a considerable stir in the digital and business world with a sense of insecurity as thousands fear that their jobs will be taken over by AI. Some artists have raised the alarm that in future AI will nudge them out of their business. This tension is not new, this is a common phenomenon witnessed in human society with every step of technological advancement. But, what if AI, instead of taking over artist’s job, could actually make their job smoother and simpler? This is exactly what is happening in the leadership communication industry.
AI in Communication
“Public Speaking” is generally considered as an art, in fact, communication, in general, is an art in its own right. There is a general perception that, someone who is good at numbers and science cannot be good with letters or language, however that does not hold true!
In today’s digital world AI is enabling common people to proceed creative or artistic ventures in a way that parallels math, the line between art and science is becoming blurred.
One of the specialists in the field of AI, Ray Kurzweil has expressed that this creative process begins with “hybrid thinking”, an exchange of thought between human and cyber intelligence which according to him is the next big leap forward in thinking.
As the machine gets more intelligent, the human behavior could now be tracked and measured in a never before way.
AI to be used to help leaders improve their quality of communication
The concept is not that complex, the machine could be trained to identify the reasons for an audience reaction (is it trust, engagement, listening intensity or action) then the machine is trained to measure enough factors in those communications (the speaker’s use of word, quality of voice modulation, gestures etc.) that might have caused those reactions, then using the data science and machine learning algorithms to create an intelligent machine that can help improve the way we communicate.
The machine is trained on (analytics platform) the metrics of best to least and also on the type (objective) of communicators (i.e. whether one is a leadership communicator or wants to talk about business convincingly). Then on the basis of these learning AI helps people to optimize their communication skill.
How the AI analytics platform works
It is obvious that the goal of any communication is to influence the audience in the way it is intended by the speaker. AI can simulate an audience thus gives you the power to diagnose in an efficient way how the message you would like to deliver will land.