Artificial intelligence is set to profoundly transform the communications professions, yet investment in this technology is struggling to keep pace. A study carried out by JIN in collaboration with E-CERCLE, a network of digital corporate communication professionals, highlights this paradox: although communication directors recognise the major impact of AI on their sector, few of them are allocating significant budgets to its adoption.

Rapid adoption but limited funding

Interviewed as part of this survey, communication directors from major French companies (CAC 40 and SBF 120) overwhelmingly acknowledge that AI is already having a significant influence on their business. 51% of respondents believe that the impact is strong or very strong, and 93% think that this technology will have repercussions at least as great as the arrival of the Internet.

Among the most widespread uses, content creation dominates (81% of respondents), followed by the design of strategies and creative elements (63%), and analysis and monitoring (52%). Communications professionals see it as a way of improving their productivity (63%), their creativity (48%) and the overall effectiveness of their organisations (26%).

Despite this growing awareness, the budgets allocated to AI remain limited. Only 30% of communication directors plan to significantly increase their investment in this technology, while 67% intend to do so more gradually.

An urgent need for training

Faced with the rapid growth of AI, companies are seeking to raise awareness and train their teams. To do this, they are relying on concrete use cases (93%), practical training (74%) and theoretical instruction (52%). However, a number of factors are still holding back the adoption of these tools, including security concerns (56%) and the time needed to train teams (44%).

According to Alexandre Villeneuve, co-founder of JIN, these obstacles are particularly visible in large groups, where technological and legal constraints are holding back the transition. He also highlights a major challenge: although communications directors are aware of the issues, employees at other hierarchical levels do not always perceive the importance of these transformations.

Challenges for effective deployment

While AI opens the way to greater creativity and productivity, it also raises ethical and strategic questions, particularly in terms of misinformation, content standardisation and transparency.

However, the study reveals that AI is not causing major concern among communications directors. On the contrary, it is fairly well accepted in the sector. The main reservation concerns the lack of investment, a surprising paradox: although managers are aware of the importance of AI, they are still reluctant to devote substantial budgets to it.

According to Alexandre Villeneuve, this reluctance could be explained by the speed of technological advances. ‘The advances in AI are so lightning-fast that companies don’t know where to place their investments’, he observes. For the time being, they prefer to wait and see rather than invest massively in this revolution.

But this caution could well prove risky in the long run. Without adequate investment, companies could find it difficult to take full advantage of the opportunities offered by AI, and find themselves lagging behind the competition.

L’article AI in communications: everywhere, but who’s prepared to pay? est apparu en premier sur JIN, Agency in Europe (France, UK, Germany...).