AI, Internal Comms, and the Skills That Will Keep Us Human

Few topics in communication stir more emotion right now than artificial intelligence. Excitement, curiosity, even resentment, all coexist in the same breath.

AI promises speed and reach that once felt impossible, yet for many communicators it also carries a quiet anxiety: what happens to us when machines can write, edit, and analyse faster than we can think?

That tension sat at the heart of Poppulo’s recent webinar, The IC Pro’s Framework to Beat AI Threats and Secure Your Future, led by Megan Thomas of Buzz Communications. Drawing on two decades of experience in corporate comms, data management, and change leadership, Megan reframed AI from something to fear into something to lead.

Six Pillars for an AI-Ready Communicator

Her framework outlines six core capabilities every communicator needs to build:

1. Explore: Experiment, test, play. Confidence with AI doesn’t come from actively trying it out and using it, not from passive reading about it
2. Ethics: Champion responsible AI behaviour and help set the standard in your organization. Regulation will always lag; values can’t.
3. Insight: Build data literacy. Understand what good data looks like, who owns it, and how to extract meaningful patterns from it.
4. Create: Use AI to extend, not replace, imagination. Start with purpose, then pick the right tool. Not the other way around.
5. Scale: Pilot first, learn, adjust, and only then expand. As Megan put it, “If you just do the same thing and add AI, you’re only making bigger mistakes faster.”
6. Lead: The real work of AI in comms is human: building trust, coaching leaders, and helping people adapt to change.

From Overwhelm to Experimentation

Asked how communicators can start experimenting safely, Megan’s advice was simple: begin small. Use AI to summarize meeting actions, analyse sentiment after a town hall, or test your prompts to improve clarity. “If you’re not getting the output you want,” she said, “you’re probably not asking the right question.”

The goal isn’t to automate everything; it’s to understand enough to decide what shouldn’t be automated.

Ethics and Data: The Non-Negotiables

For all the excitement, Megan warned against blind trust. “Read the terms and conditions. Opt out of sharing your data where you can. Don’t put anything in an AI system you wouldn’t want in public.”

She reminded communicators that ethical use of AI will increasingly define credibility. With 91% of organisations adopting AI but only 39% having a responsible AI framework, the gap is wide, and comms professionals are well placed to bridge it.

The Human Advantage

AI can mimic empathy, but it can’t feel it. The differentiator, Megan argued, will always be the human ability to interpret emotion, apply judgment, and create meaning.

She encouraged teams to make AI a collaborator, not a critic: “Use it to challenge your thinking. Ask it to stress-test your assumptions. AI should be your harshest critic, not your biggest fan.”

Asked to take a guess at what the internal comms role as we know it now might evolve into, she said perhaps a Chief Attention Officer—someone who helps organisations manage cognitive overload and shape the flow of information, both human and digital.

Leading with Curiosity, Not Fear

Megan closed with practical optimism. Keep learning, keep questioning, and stay curious, but also know when to step away. “All of this is moving fast,” she said. “Look after your human brain. Go for a walk. Read a book.”

Her message was clear: AI will change how communicators work, but not why. The compellling value that internal communicators bring to the table lies in judgment, empathy, and the ability to connect people through trust.

Those are real skills, the ones that make work feel human, not the calculations of a clever machine.