Not Sure if You’re in a Relationship with Your Phone? Just Ask Google!
Martin Waxman, CMO of Spin Sucks, Discusses the
Human/AI agent relationship and why PR should care
Apparently we are on a Spin Sucks “jag!” This week we are rounding out the theme by talking with Martin Waxman, CMO of Spin Sucks. Our last interview was with Spin Sucks founder Gini Dietrich. However, Martin and I didn’t necessarily talk about Spin Sucks. Since it is a professional development hub for PR and marketing professionals, you can imagine that the CMO of the organization would have something to say about the industry.
Of course we discussed how PR is evolving and Martin had some interesting insight into how PR people need to bring visuals into their pitches and try to get a little bit more savvy with photos, video and design.
We then spent a lot of time talking about the fascinating intersection between PR and AI (artificial intelligence). Not to toot my own horn, but this was really one of the first times an interviewee brought a topic to the table that I honestly hadn’t thought of before. Martin is currently completing a Master in Communications Management from McMaster/Syracuse and researching AI, relationships and communications. His thesis was on the relationships humans have (or will have) with machines, which he calls the human/AI agent relationship.
If you don’t think you’re in a relationship with your phone, Martin gives this example — who do you believe when you are lost in your car? Google maps or your passenger? If you answered that you’d kick your mother-in-law to the curb before you’d believe her over your phone, congratulations, you are in a relationship with your phone!
Since PR is about relationships, Martin argues that PR people should take an active role if their clients are considering implementing the technology. “Not that we need to learn how to code, but we need to understand the language and mechanics of AI.” How people interact with your brand through their devices, whether using their voice or their fingertips, has everything to do with PR.
Martin goes deeper into this topic in an article he penned for Spin Sucks called “How to Put AI in PR and Demonstrate the Value of Communicators.”
To learn more about this and many other more interesting techy-type-topics, follow Martin on LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda.com), where he is an author and offers online courses. He is also a professor of social media, PR and journalism at Seneca College and the University of Toronto, serves as President of Martin Waxman Communications and co-hosts the podcast, Inside PR.
About the guest: Martin Waxman
Martin is President of Martin Waxman Communications, CMO at Spin Sucks, a professor of social media, PR and journalism at Seneca College and the University of Toronto. He’s also an author on LinkedIn Learning and Lynda.com, plus co-host the Inside PR podcast, a past-chair of PRSA Counselors Academy, and past-president of CPRS Toronto.
Martin is also a published novelist/story writer (The Promised Land, Everything in Winnipeg Begins in a Car); founder of three agencies, an ex-journalist/standup comedy MC/ad copywriter.
Connect and follow Martin on social media:
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