Crisis communications in the AI era – Are you ready for the new robots, machines and engines?
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is shaping up to be the ultimate double-edged sword – this foil of risk and opportunity is changing the way we live, work, move and play. In New Zealand, AI is already doing everything from surgical risk assessments and 3D scanning for biosecurity through to business analytics and content creation across our offices and homes.
Like the ubiquitous 'Force' in Star Wars movies, AI's efficiency and inventiveness has its dark side. Manipulation and misinformation, deception and fraud – AI-generated scripts and fake videos are beta designs of a sophisticated new toolbox for cybercriminals as AI gravitates to the centre of governance, commerce and smarter ways of living.
Boards of directors need to consider how AI is both contributing to crises and can help avoid the common mistakes in their management. These include inadequate preparation and planning (the big mistake), delayed or dodged compliance (often involving regulatory bodies), and poor communication with stakeholders (losing control of the narrative).
These missteps will hit home faster as machines get smarter. "Let's Wait and See" is a recipe for disaster. It never was a crisis strategy, and AI eliminates that illusion with serious and instant consequences. As the chair of one of Australia's largest companies told The Australian: "Reputation goes down using the elevator but up by taking the stairs."
For companies, crises can take an astonishing variety of forms and they are increasingly AI-related. From a major weather event to a manufacturing recall to an employee scam, what all crises have in common is that – with careful planning, the correct strategic advice, and the willingness of internal leaders to face up to things – they can be foreseen, planned for comprehensively, sometimes prevented, and managed effectively if they occur.
Effective crisis management involves a framework for appropriate actions before, during, and after a crisis. AI presents new tactics – from predictive to interactive to generative – for managing crises across these phases, including those crises that AI's dark side enables.
Before the crisis: "To fail to plan is to plan to fail" is proven and will echo louder. Develop your crisis management plan early, resource it, and test it regularly. A comprehensive plan includes crisis scenarios, messages by stakeholder, roles & responsibilities, and clear processes to execute on when a crisis hits. With many clients, we identify the company's media 'face' and the ex-journalist on our team leads their training with real world simulations.
DeepSeek revealed just how fast AI applications are evolving. Currently, 80% of organisations don't have a dedicated plan to address generative AI risks (Riskonnect) yet generative AI exposes companies to everything from IP infringements and privacy breaches to AI-driven phishing and promotional backlashes.
As part of AI risk management, boards should get behind AI awareness training for staff and the new wave of AI tools that can identify disinformation, vulnerabilities and reputational threats early and generate crisis scenarios and messaging templates.
Companies also need to address compliance readiness as AI guardrail legislation chugs into view. A common crisis trigger for start-ups and tech companies that we see is delayed regulator communications because technology runs ahead of its regulatory environment. Market innovators can diffuse or avoid crises by communicating proactively with the Commerce Commission and Financial Markets Authority and other regulators.
During the crisis: The mere presence of a plan will cool your people's heads when the unthinkable happens. Plan or no plan, crisis resilience is about effective communication. Messaging to stakeholders needs to be tailored, timely, empathetic, clear and consistent.
AI puts a premium on being human. Establishing the facts and truth, responding fast, and showing empathy matter more now.
AI tools lack a human touch but can power situational awareness. In today's fragmented media landscape, they supercharge tasks like real-time monitoring and sentiment analysis, message testing and translation when time and cost count. For example, simulated personas can outpace focus groups for testing messages.
After the crisis: Every crisis should be reviewed for people, financial and reputational impacts along with learnings and changes to prevent a recurrence. People are remarkably forgiving if they believe you are telling the truth, taking responsibility, and continuing to do better. The first (often forgotten) step for crisis recovery is to do the right thing in real life. Then manage your online visibility to evidence this.
Is your content AI-friendly? By 2027, nearly 90 million people in the U.S. will be using generative AI as their primary tool for online search (Statista). GEO (generative engine optimisation) overlays SEO content strategy, before, during and particularly after a crisis.
Surfacing the positive has evolved from just SEO ranking to aligning with machine interpretation and how different AI search models approach content and people's search intent. Using GEO to strengthen reputation is about contextual meaning, structured content, organisation recognition, and being credible, authentic and authoritative.
The AI era brings a new chapter in the history of corporate issues and crises. In our Crisis Management and Legal PR practices, the goal is always to ensure any crisis is the last of its kind for the company and doesn't trigger an endless round of customer complaints, news stories, or social media threads. On the brighter side, a crisis is each organisation's opportunity to improve the business, build resilience and drive more customer loyalty.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and are based on publicly available information. They do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organisation, employer, or company.