How to keep thought leadership real in the age of Gen AI

Is thought leadership under threat from AI?

Thought leadership is, for a lot of companies, the most important part of the PR and marketing mix. It’s what helps a brand stand out as trustworthy and insightful. It’s the content that drives PR outside of your news cycle, powering contributed articles and expert commentary in the media. And it’s what makes your owned marketing content more engaging, ensuring it isn’t too biased or salesy.

But here’s the problem: too many companies are starting to lean on GenAI to create thought leadership. And that’s a fundamental contradiction. Thought leadership, by definition, has to offer original thinking – something GenAI simply can’t do. Its output is based on what’s already out on the public internet. But I’m seeing an increasing amount of content that is generic and quite obviously GenAI-created. 

Yes, GenAI can bring together existing ideas. But it can’t bring you the kind of unique perspective you get from your subject matter experts, who hear about new industry development things first-hand in sales meetings, at events, in boardrooms, and formulate their own opinions. That’s where real thought leadership comes from, and that’s what companies need to tap into if they want to lead the conversation.

Make it personal, make it new

So, our jobs as PRs are to identify the trending topics and come prepared with messaging for our clients. But it’s also important that the opinion comes from the author – your company spokesperson. It’s why at Babel, we will constantly put commentary and ideas in front of our clients to add their perspective. It’s why we frequently hold messaging sessions with our clients to help extract new and timely messaging. 

Great thought leadership doesn’t just echo what’s already out there; it challenges, reframes, and adds something new. To do that, PRs need to understand the competitive landscape – what others are saying, what’s missing, and where there’s room to lead. We have to help our clients articulate bold, original opinions that go beyond surface-level commentary.

In short, GenAI is a powerful tool, but it’s just that. It can help refine your messaging, but it can’t define your point of view. That still needs to come from your experts, leaders, and their lived experience. If you want to build real credibility, earn trust, and stand out in a sea of sameness, you need to create original thought leadership.