Tag: ISB

Someone I know remarked, “Now that we have AI, there is no need for Communication courses, right?”

I laughed.

At institutions like #IIMA and #ISB, communication faculty emphasize that we are not vocational schools and that Communication theory is central. How you translate theory into application and make it part of your skill set is ultimately up to you. However, there will be people who conflate communication with vocational skills.

Given the expectations placed on management education, institutes (understandably) want to integrate AI to ensure students are future-ready.

Since many people now use AI to generate emails, I designed an AI-integrated persuasive email-writing exercise and had all communication faculty conduct it across sections.

We chose a case that could be used for both “managing down” and “managing up.”
Basis this, students were asked to generate a persuasive email using AI. They were asked not to upload the case directly into any AI tool but to summarise the case themselves, provide context, and articulate the ask.

Once they generated the first email, faculty unpacked the case in class. We discussed persuasion, organisational dynamics, leadership communication, and relevant communication concepts. Armed with this understanding, students generated another email.

The first version: students were confident and happy with what AI generated.

I heard a couple of them and there were the tell-tale signs of AI-generated content, of course. But beyond that, AI completely flattened voice. Most emails read either profusely apologetic or authoritative.

So I asked: “Do you really think either Lisa or Daniel (the protagonists of the case) would be this apologetic? What do we know about them from the case? Would Lisa or Daniel, for the purpose of one email, suddenly change their entire personality? Even if they did, would the intended receiver believe this overnight change in personality?”

A collective oooh, that’s right!

Within organisational contexts, where interpersonal relationships and dynamics matter, people believe they know you as a person. They associate you with a certain leadership style, emotional range, tone, and managerial approach. When your AI-generated email sounds nothing like you, the receiver notices.

Students then inevitably asked:
“But ma’am, wouldn’t being warmer work?”

Context matters!

When you hand communication over to AI, and you are not generally an apologetic person, yet the AI-generated email makes you sound apologetic, or presents you as a collaborative leader when you are not, you are likely to create a much bigger problem for yourself.

Once this was done, they went back to their keyboards to generate a fresh email.

After about five minutes, one vexed student remarked, “It would have taken me much less time to draft one myself!”

Ha!

Persuasion, consensus-building, negotiation, and crisis management are deeply human activities rooted in judgment, relational understanding, and knowing what moves another person. AI cannot do this for you.


#ManagerialCommunication #AI #ISB #CommunicatingintheageofAI