Think Forward

A nip of power, a sip of water: each AI prompt takes almost nothing on its own. But multiplied by billions, those nips and sips become torrents. So how are we going to manage the data drain on our environment - ethically and with care?

Can you beat the bot? Work with language to tell more human stories? Be more human? Join us and see what we can do.

For World PR Day - an open session to help you navigate our chaotic times

Seemingly years in the making, the newly published New Zealand’s Strategy for Artificial Intelligence: Investing with Confidence has turned out to be a disappointing waste of digital dots.

What does value really look like? And how do we demonstrate it — not just in the work we do as practitioners but in the value our organisations bring to the people they serve?

World Press Freedom Day passed quietly this weekend – May 3 – drowned out by AI-generated Donald Trumps dressed up as Pope on Saturday and a Star Wars Sith on Sunday. The images, shared by Trump himself and media around the world, provide us with an ironic illustration as to why people have switched off the news. Clicks don’t build trust, relationships do and in turning away from relationships in favour of clicks, mainstream media ends up with no news that matters - and no news is bad news.

The truth is trapped, media is under pressure, new and colliding realities are pinned by polarised commentary. What does this mean for our relationship with news, AI - and each other?

Are you ready for chaos? Because things are about to get worse. Governments, media and institutions — once foundations of stability — are being dismantled. In their place? Noise. Division. Manipulation. Deprivation. As public relations and communication professionals, we must address what it means to be useful in an era of conflict-driven chaos. The year turned and we moved beyond crisis communication and entered the age of chaos communication. Five years ago, a global pandemic changed us. This time, the crisis doesn't come from nature - it comes from people. Where does that leave us? We must decide whether we are guardians of truth or mouthpieces of power.

There’s a moment - sometimes a split second, sometimes a drawn-out agony - when truth teeters on the edge of convenience. It’s in that moment that courage and cowardice define themselves.

It started on January 20th, the moment Donald Trump returned to power. Thousands were fired. Data was seized. Musk was sent in, his team of young digital henchmen given free rein to strip government systems, lifting what they wanted, destroying what they didn’t. One by one, websites disappeared, archives vanished and the history of the United States - the infrastructure of accountability - was thrown into the shredder.

The last few weeks have seen the cool kids adopting and playing with DeepSeek and its latest AI model out of China. Released in late 2024, DeepSeek’s R1 was developed as a response to existing limitations and challenges of AI models. It aims to set new benchmarks in accessibility and advanced reasoning capabilities - and I have to say, it is very good indeed.

As the sun sets on this “Last Gentle Sunday,” I'm watching the closing of the day and reflecting on a troublesome dawn. Tomorrow sees the inauguration of Donald Trump’s second presidency, a moment that will set the tone for global politics in ways both predictable and deeply troubling. It’s a moment sure to be frozen in U.S. history. An icy blast that shocks the world, spreading chilling consequences for global stability and international relations. And as we reflect, we must also consider how the contagion of political opportunism, autocracy and oligarchy is already affecting our world.