Artificial intelligence can generate instant content, formats, and structures, but responsibility for how they are used always lies with humans. That is why communicators must understand AI well enough to recognize errors, biases, and risks.
The communicator’s role is changing
The efficiency gains brought by AI are visible in communicators’ daily work as faster processes and increased capacity. AI assists with drafting, summarizing, translating, and brainstorming, among other tasks. At the same time, it is reshaping what communication professionals are needed for in organizations and what kinds of skills they require.
We interviewed Siina Repo, Executive Director of Viesti ry, and Miia Rosenqvist, Director of Education and Development at ProCom – both professional associations for communication professionals in Finland – and asked what new capabilities communicators need in the age of AI.
“I believe new roles will emerge in communications around responsibility, human interaction, leadership communication, foresight, security, preparedness, and the strategic core of business,” says Siina Repo.
Rosenqvist also sees the communicator’s competence profile evolving toward a more strategic, analytics-driven, and ethically focused role.
Both Repo and Rosenqvist share the view that communication work will certainly not disappear because of AI. Instead, it will shift toward what cannot be automated: humanity, strategic thinking, and accountability.
“AI is a tool, not a replacement for communicators,” Rosenqvist clarifies.
See through and beyond AI
AI produces content quickly and in large volumes, which makes it the communicator’s responsibility to ensure that content is accurate, ethically responsible, and aligned with the organization’s values. Repo emphasizes the communication professional’s role as fact-checker, guardian of reputation and interpreter of decision-making. When AI provides content, wording, and structure, humans remain responsible for how they are used.
Communicators must understand the basic principles of how AI works in order to identify errors, biases, and risks. They must also be able to assess when AI should be used and when human judgment is essential. Transparency in the use of AI is not merely a technical choice, it is part of trust leadership.
Rosenqvist also highlights the importance of ethical and critical technological literacy. According to her, communicators increasingly need the ability to recognize disinformation and misinformation and to anticipate AI’s impact on trust and brand.
Strengthen your strategic expertise
As AI accelerates communication production, the focus of communicators’ work shifts more strongly to the strategic level. The volume of content grows, but its value lies in how well it supports organizational goals and long-term impact.
According to Repo, this means communicators need a deeper understanding of business and decision-making, as well as the ability to integrate communication into the organization as a whole.
“In many organizations, the communicator is the one who articulates the direction and helps people understand why things are done and what is being pursued,” Repo explains.
Rosenqvist also sees strategic competence as a key future capability. In her view, the value of communication does not arise from individual pieces of content, but from how communication helps guide choices, steer actions, and build trust over the long term.
At the core of communication work are choices, responsibility, and understanding. It is not only about efficiency, but about how technology is used to support strategy, values, and trust. The emphasis of expertise shifts toward building meaning, understanding the bigger picture, and defining direction to tasks that cannot be automated.
Protect human thinking
AI is also changing the rhythm of work, and questions have been raised about whether it may accelerate the pace too much. However, the quality of communication depends on someone taking the time to assess the whole, connect ideas and choose a direction.
“Organizations must ensure that everyone can keep up with the pace and that there is still time for human thinking,” Repo says.
According to Rosenqvist, empathy, creative thinking, and interaction skills are especially emphasized in communication work right now. She argues that these form the communicator’s future superpower: the ability to meet people, interpret situations, and build understanding when technology cannot.
Leverage data and analytics
As a fourth key capability, Rosenqvist highlights data literacy and analytics expertise. Communicators are increasingly expected to interpret data, understand impact, and use metrics to support communication decision-making. This also requires financial literacy and the ability to see communication’s effects as part of a broader whole.
In this context, AI can at its best serve as a valuable support tool. It helps analyze information, identify patterns and make the impact of communication more visible. However, Rosenqvist emphasizes that leveraging technology requires contextual expertise: the ability to ask AI the right questions, evaluate the usefulness of its responses, and make the final interpretations independently.
Thinking, empathy, and perspective make the difference
AI does not diminish the importance of communication, it makes it more strategic than ever. The more technology handles routines, the more important it becomes for communicators to see further ahead, connect data and people, and articulate direction amid uncertainty.
Although the tools of communication are changing, its core mission remains the same. The future communicator’s expertise crystallizes around strategic thinking, empathy, contextual understanding, and seeing the bigger picture – skills that cannot be automated.