Boost Your Digital Campaigns: Leveraging AI for Public Affairs Success

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is slowly but surely revolutionizing the work in public affairs, much like it's reshaping various other industries. It's a mix of emotions for many of us—there's the slight trepidation of navigating through uncharted waters, alongside the thrill of uncovering what's new. I find myself oscillating between these feelings quite often.

In our day-to-day professional lives, AI quietly plays a significant role, sometimes without us even realizing it. Think about how social media algorithms bring relevant content to our feeds or how Siri and Alexa understand our queries with surprising accuracy. It's fascinating, isn't it?

AI is changing the game in how we communicate, engage with, and influence our audiences. For many of us AI can be a powerful ally. It helps us craft more effective, personalized, and relevant digital campaigns that resonate with stakeholders and help us achieve our goals.

Here's a peek into my personal journey with AI:

Creating content with AI's help

We used AI in our team to write blog articles, social media posts, and press releases. AI tools can dissect themes, audiences, tones, and keywords to churn out content that's fresh, high-quality, and engaging. But let me tell you, there's no replacement for the human touch—your expertise and flair are what will truly bring these pieces to life.

You've probably heard about Chat GPT by now, right? The fourth version is a game-changer, offering a helpful hand during the brainstorming and drafting phases of a campaign.

Sparking creativity with AI

Using data and machine learning, AI tools can generate concepts, images, videos, slogans, and other innovative resources that grab attention and touch hearts. From my experience, think of AI-generated results as a first draft. They lay down up to 70% of the groundwork, but it's the remaining 30%—your personal touch—that truly makes a campaign memorable and impactful.

Segmenting audiences and optimizing campaigns

I can't say that AI tools are the first ones I turn to for audience segmentation. I prefer to rely on human experience and to take the pulse on the spot, but there are tools, like Albert.ai, that have helped us see things from a different perspective and save time.

Monitoring the brand with AI

When I was working in public affairs, there weren't tools like Brand24 to help me track mentions of our brand across various platforms, allowing for rapid responses to any criticism and preventing potential crises before they escalate. Back then, we used Google Alerts. Brand 24 is like having a supercharged version of Google Alerts.

Navigating legislative landscapes with AI

Issue Monitoring has been a digital godsend for keeping abreast of legislative changes. This tool saves public affairs professionals roughly 30 hours a month, helping them stay informed with alerts, reports, and analyses, all tailored to their field.

Although I'm a supporter of AI development, which we incorporate at a basic level even into the Issue Monitoring Platform, the greatest asset our clients highlight regarding our legislative monitoring platform is precisely the human support offered in an efficient and timely manner. So, I wouldn't see this aspect being replaced by artificial intelligence any time soon. Public Affairs professionals love human interaction.

As we embrace the benefits of AI, it's essential to ponder its broader implications.

Is AI taking over?

One common concern among us is whether AI might eventually replace human professionals in public affairs. While AI can automate many routine tasks, the strategic, relationship-building aspect of our work will always require a human touch. I believe our intuition and expertise are irreplaceable, but AI can certainly make us more efficient.

As AI technologies evolve, they'll become better at parsing complex data, enabling us to craft even more nuanced and effective communication strategies. However, the heart of public affairs—message development and relationship building—will always need a human touch.

What's your take on AI's role in public affairs? Do you see it as an essential tool, or does its rapid advancement unsettle you? How do you manage to harness AI for your communication needs?

Now, here is a summary of the most important legislative changes of the last week (11-15 March):

FISCAL

The OECD recommends progressive taxation. Along with the working meeting between the Government of Romania and representatives of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the official recommendations of the Organization for the Romanian economic environment were also published. Thus, the OECD recommends a gradual transition towards a progressive wage taxation system, as well as reducing the tax burdens on incomes of employees with low wages, which would include reducing the rates of social contributions of employees in the long term. Additionally, the OECD once again requests the complete elimination of fiscal benefits in IT, construction, agriculture, modernization of the tax administration, and the maintenance of a restrictive monetary policy until inflation is clearly on the right track. Moreover, the authorities should strengthen the enforcement of tax legislation, to reduce fraud and tax evasion – an example would be widening the VAT tax base, through the more uniform application of the standard rate.

CASH PAYMENT ELIMINATION. Last week, senators rejected the legislative initiative aimed at returning to the cash usage ceilings for payments/receipts, to 5,000 lei and 10,000 lei, respectively, as well as maintaining a stronger sanction level for individuals who do not comply with the legal provisions and exceed the established ceilings, according to Law No. 293/2023. In the following period, the initiative will be sent to the Chamber of Deputies for a final debate.

OPTIONAL PENSIONS. A second proposal rejected by the Senators is the one modifying the legislation on optional pensions, specifying that the amounts deductible from the gross salary, over a fiscal year, will be reported in such a way that they do not exceed 10% of the value of 12 minimum gross base salaries guaranteed in payment at the country level. In this case as well, the initiative will be forwarded to the deputies.

LABOUR

SOCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS REDUCTION. On March 11, senators rejected a legislative initiative by AUR parliamentarians in the Senate that proposes exemption from payment of the health insurance contribution (CASS) and the social insurance contribution (CAS) for the difference of 1,700 lei between the amount of 5,000 lei gross and the current minimum gross salary in the economy, which is 3,300 lei. This fiscal facility will only apply to gross salaries up to 15,000 lei. The next step will be the registration of the legislative proposal for debate in the Chamber of Deputies, which has the decisive role.

VIRTUAL HOLIDAY VOUCHERS. On March 11, the Chamber of Deputies adopted the legislative proposal that gives employees the possibility to receive holiday vouchers on an electronic medium. The virtual instrument that will replace the physical device can also be used for online payments, and employees together with employers will have the option to choose the type of voucher, physical or virtual. If initially the employer chose the voucher exclusively on an electronic medium, later they will have the right to request from the issuing unit the physical device of the voucher in the form of a card. The adopted law is to be sent soon to the President of Romania for promulgation.

CONSUMER PROTECTION

DIRECTIVE ON LIABILITY FOR DEFECTIVE PRODUCTS. On March 12, European deputies adopted a Directive that will simplify the burden of proof for consumers seeking compensation and eliminates the minimum damage threshold of 500 euros. While the claimant would normally have to prove that the product was defective and that its defect caused the harm, now a court may assume it is defective, especially in cases most complex from a technical and scientific standpoint. The court may also order the company to disclose "necessary and proportionate" evidence to help damage victims with their compensation claims. Consumers will be able to obtain compensation not only for material damages but also for non-material losses, including psychological damage. Following the European Parliament's vote, the Directive will have to be adopted by the Council and will come into force on the twentieth day after its publication in the Official Journal of the EU. The new rules will apply to products brought to market 24 months after the entry into force of this directive.

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