How Will AI Change Customer Communications in 2025?
Sharon Malloch 
November 20th, 2024
As we draw near the end of an unprecedented year of change in business communications, there are some big questions being asked by every CCM team. Most of those questions focus on the implications of AI for communications professionals. What does artificial intelligence (AI) mean for the future of your business? What does it mean for the future of business in general? How will AI and communication intersect within my company?
Join us as we look for answers to those questions and other key concerns about AI communication technology in 2025 and beyond.
AI Will Be a Part of Your Communications in 2025
As you already know, AI technology for communications has evolved massively in the last few years. AI tools have been crafting high quality communications in all industries and niches for quite some time, and their importance will only continue to swell. Heading into 2025, business leaders have a unique opportunity to decide how this technology will be used.
View Our AI in Communications Webinar
Presenters: Gina Armada, former MHC CEO and Dawn Watz, MHC CPO | October 30th, 2024
It’s a common misconception that AI communication tools will soon replace many of the roles currently filled by humans. The fact is that human input and controls are every bit as important in the age of AI as they ever have been. As you’ll hear in this illuminating webinar hosted by MHC CEO Gina Armada and CPO Dawn Watz, achieving success in customer communications in the immediate future will require a blend of human and AI-based strengths.
Anthropocentric Bias and AI Fatigue
Another common misconception is that AI tools can be used to do just about anything and everything. In fact, research shows that people respond negatively to communications that are entirely AI-generated. Anthropocentric bias is one key reason for that. This means that humans have a natural tendency to favor communications created by other humans. When we sense that something has been entirely created by an AI, we feel that something is not quite right with it.
Business leaders also need to consider AI fatigue. This is the idea that just as many consumers and employees are turned off by the current torrent of information and speculation about the possibilities of AI as are excited about it. People are worried about AI abuses such as deep fakes, misinformation, and AI-generated songs, videos, and artwork. The novelty of the early days of AI has passed. Consumers now expect companies to use this technology in more responsible, higher-quality ways.
How AI Can Help Overcome Key Communications Challenges
Moving beyond its general applications, AI can transform your business communications in a number of specific areas. While every business will employ AI to meet particular needs and goals within its own industry, it also helps address universal challenges such as:
Time-consuming document creation
Building documents from scratch takes a lot of time. AI enables organizations to assemble documents in a fraction of the time with automatically generated templates, content fragments, and forms.
Generic communications
Research shows that customers respond much more positively to personalized communications than generic messaging. AI features such as automatic translation and natural language prompts make it easy to tailor your communications to meet the needs of specific groups or even individuals.
Complex documents
A library of reusable, AI-assisted document templates enables your CCM team to quickly build, route, and distribute even complex documents. Users can customize the length, tone, and messaging of key documents while maintaining consistent branding across all communications.
Regulatory compliance
Keeping up with compliance requirements for communications is a constant challenge, especially in heavily regulated industries. AI tools can automatically check communications for compliance with all relevant regulations and industry standards. That boosts consistency and reduces the risk of compliance violations.
Creating Force-Multiplier Relationships
Once a foundation of trust is established, partnerships can evolve into something even more powerful – a force multiplier relationship. These alliances combine strengths to create value that’s far greater than what either partner could achieve alone. This synergy creates a powerful competitive advantage and accelerates the ability to innovate, grow, and deliver exceptional value.
Key elements of a force-multiplier relationship include:
- Aligned Vision and Goals: Both partners are working toward common goals, ensuring that their efforts are complementary rather than competitive.
- Resource Sharing: Whether it’s data, technology, or expertise, partners can share valuable resources, reducing costs and increasing efficiency.
- Enhanced Capabilities: Working together, the knowledge and skills of each partner combine to create a solution that is richer, more innovative, and ultimately more compelling.
Humans and AI Working Together
Using AI where it matters and letting your team focus on adding heart and context is the key to integrating AI and communications successfully.
Artificial intelligence has received so much hype and sparked so many conversations recently that many people think of it as a universal solution. In fact, as we’ve already noted, human creativity and controls are a vital part of managing communication even in the AI era. A recent C-suite survey reveals 64% of business leaders say employee adoption is vital for success with AI, but 61% are incorporating generative AI at a faster pace than their employees are comfortable with. A successful CCM strategy requires finding the middle ground.
It is true that AI tools can take on a significant number of tasks that were formerly handled manually. MHC’s CCM solutions with AI Assist offer functions that significantly reduce the time it takes to craft customer communications, such as translation, summarization, personalization, and content refinement and rewrites. To truly connect with readers, though, all of those areas still require a human touch.
Human contributors provide context, usefulness, and an intangible ingredient that we can call “heart.” Without it, AI-generated communications read as insincere and “robotic” to many audiences. AI-generated content still needs to be evaluated by your CCM team to ensure that the information is accurate, the tone is appropriate, and the messaging makes sense strategically. Remember that AI tools are just that: tools designed to help your human employees perform more effectively, not the other way around.
How to Use AI to Craft the Body of Your Communications
Let’s start by looking at AI’s role in generating business communications. AI Assist from MHC helps your organization employ AI communication technology to deliver on your specific goals and needs. Key benefits of AI in communication include:
Accelerated document generation
AI Assist’s natural language prompts help users of all skill sets and abilities generate documents, content fragments, and emails that connect with your customers. AI-assisted authoring tools enable your CCM team to create context-specific documents that better meet the needs of both your business and your customers.
Instant personalization
Every customer or group of customers has their own specific communication needs. AI Assist makes it easy to adjust messaging for every audience. Automatically craft communications to the tone, sentiment, and length that best connects with readers of all kinds.
Instant translations
Speaking to customers in the language they prefer is a crucial part of any CCM strategy. AI Assist instantly and automatically translates your communications to any language your customers require, with greater accuracy and nuance than older translation solutions could offer.
Internal communications
Communications within your organization don’t always require the same level of polish that customer-facing communications do. Using AI for internal communications such as automated notifications, appointment reminders, and policy updates can be a major time-saver.
Use Human Experts to Add Soul and Build the Connection
As helpful as AI tools will be to CCM processes, they will never be a replacement for a genuine human touch. The communications experts on your CCM team will be as essential as ever in 2025 as they guide and manage this new technology. Several key areas where humans outshine AI include:
Improving accuracy and context
The algorithms behind AI tools are unable to understand many specifically human facets of communication. All AI-generated content needs to be carefully checked by human experts to ensure that all of the information is accurate and presented in its appropriate context.
Meeting customers’ specific needs
As advanced as your algorithmic technology may be, no tool can understand what your customers truly need and want from you the way that your business can. While AI Assist makes personalization faster and easier, only a human connection can ensure that the message will speak to each customer in the way that makes the biggest impact.
Integrating communications in the customer journey
Mapping customer journeys is an essential part of maintaining effective communications. AI tools can be a huge help with creating those maps, but interpreting how customers interact with your business from beginning to end requires insight and nuance that only human eyes can provide.
“People are skilled in so many areas, from developing an organization’s culture to understanding and responding to emotions with empathy. People are flexible. We adapt to changing situations. We make quick decisions when faced with new situations and challenges. People bring a set of ethics and value-based decision-making to guide important choices.”
What Is the Future of AI in Communications in 2025?
How will AI and corporate communications co-exist in the coming year and into the future? We’ve pulled together ideas from several of MHC’s in-house technology and communications experts to paint a clearer picture of what’s next for CCM in the era of artificial intelligence.
“The benefits of AI in communication are hard to ignore. As a people leader in a complex and ever-changing business landscape, I’ve learned that success isn’t just about saving time and money. Organizations that focus on improving customer experience, while prioritizing employee engagement to foster innovation, creativity, and strategic growth, can secure a competitive advantage and be ready for the challenges of tomorrow.“
“HR leaders are uniquely positioned to start driving AI adoption within their organization—to craft appropriate strategies, communications, and messaging to help employees leverage AI tools to boost productivity, while safeguarding the security of sensitive information.“
“I think the biggest short-term opportunities with AI in communication are in summarization and context. We all get a lot of communications. Providing AI-generated summaries at the top of documents or in emails makes it easier for customers to understand and engage. AI also gives us the ability to look across all communications with a customer and tailor the next message based on what a customer has done before, or what they need to do next.”
Futureproof Your Communications with AI and MHC
The future of business communications is here, and artificial intelligence is driving major changes across every industry. MHC NorthStar CCM with AI Assist puts your organization in a position to meet the communication challenges of today and beyond. Visit our new AI Assist page to dig deeper into the many exciting possibilities of this game-changing technology.
Contact us today to schedule a free demonstration of MHC’s industry-leading communications software. Our in-house experts will build an AI-driven solution tailored to your specific needs and goals. Let MHC be your guide as we navigate the brave new world of AI communications together.
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Sharon Malloch
Sharon leads content marketing at MHC, overseeing strategies that fuel sales and demand generation. With more than a decade of experience in customer communications, Sharon brings deep insight into customer pain points, industry trends, and the critical role of solutions in managing regulatory communications. Before joining MHC, she honed her marketing expertise at Doxim, Messagepoint, and OpenText.
