Chapter 10: AI in Business Communication
By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:
- Understand the expanding role of AI in business communication.
- Develop AI literacy skills for business communication.
- Explore the best practices for collaborating with AI to improve business communication.
- Develop ethical standards for AI-assisted writing.
- Learn the principles of effective prompt engineering.
This chapter was written through a collaborative process between me, Dr. Rose Helens-Hart, a professor of business communication, and AI writing applications, specifically Gemini and ChatGPT. My approach involved extensive, iterative, prompt-based conversations with these AI applications, during which I explored and refined various topics related to AI’s use in business communication. While the AI tools offered valuable suggestions and generated initial content, the final version of this chapter reflects a significant amount of human research, drafting, editing, and revision on my part to ensure accuracy, clarity, and relevance to the field.
In preparing this chapter, I followed the frameworks for ethical authorship (Lentz, 2024) and AI literacy outlined in this chapter (Cardon et al., 2023a). I applied the principles of AI literacy, focusing on application, authenticity, accountability, and agency to guide my use of AI throughout the writing process. This framework, which promotes ethical, transparent, and receiver-centered communication, provided the structure for my decisions about how to engage with AI and ensure my work aligned with the best practices for responsible AI use in writing and ethical authorship (Lentz, 2024).
Additionally, before beginning writing, I conducted a review of current research on AI in business communication, including studies on AI writing applications (AIWAs), ethical issues, and the broader impact of AI on professional communication practices, which are cited throughout the chapter and in a reference list at the end of the chapter. To further enhance the quality and rigor of the content, Dr. Gordon Carlson, professor of informatics and an expert in AI, provided editorial support and reviewed the chapter for both accuracy and alignment with the latest developments in AI technologies.
