Hardly a day passes without another conversation about how organizations are using AI or why they need to embed it in their operations. Around the world, AI has become a defining business conversation, even within communications and public relations. While it has made many aspects of our work easier, there is one thing it cannot deliver on its own: trust.
A recent article, published following a discussion at the AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva, argues that trust cannot simply be coded into an AI model. It must be intentionally designed into the wider ecosystem through governance, transparency, accountability, partnerships and human oversight that shape how technology is developed and experienced.
This is familiar territory for communications professionals. Our distinctive value lies in understanding the human dynamics around innovation and helping organizations build trust through the decisions, relationships and experiences that surround it.
While the technology may be new, the challenge of building trust is not. Communications and public relations professionals have spent decades helping organizations earn the confidence of customers, investors, media, employees and communities. We have learned repeatedly that people do not trust systems simply because they work. They trust them when they understand them, see value in them, believe their interests are protected and feel their concerns are recognized. In many ways, trust has always been shaped by communication.
Trust is built through relationships
Technical teams rightly focus on capability: whether a solution can perform its intended function, scale effectively and remain secure. But while capability is an essential starting point, it rarely guarantees acceptance on its own.
Trust is also shaped by transparency, consistency, credibility, responsiveness and shared understanding. These are not technical outputs; they are human outcomes. And human outcomes often determine whether innovation succeeds or fails.
Communications has long been in the trust bnusiness
Long before AI entered the conversation, communicators were helping organizations test whether stakeholder experience matched what a product or service promised. They examined the social, economic and industry dynamics shaping acceptance; listened to customers, media and other stakeholders; explained complexity and uncertainty; and helped establish accountability when concerns arose. The tools may be different today, but the underlying dynamics remain remarkably similar.
A positive example is emerging here in Rwanda. is using AI-based tools to identify network bottlenecks and their likely causes earlier, enabling technical teams to respond before customers experience prolonged disruption. The value is not the technology alone.
It lies in connecting early detection to human action and a more reliable customer experience. When innovation reduces disruption and helps an organization respond more quickly, it reinforces the consistency and accountability on which trust depends.
Trust requires listening, not just messaging
People are more likely to trust organizations that introduce technology that is convenient, efficient and easy to use and that demonstrate an understanding of their concerns, respond to feedback and make decisions with stakeholders. This is particularly important for emerging technologies. Questions about privacy, bias, transparency and accountability cannot be addressed through messaging alone. They require meaningful engagement and ongoing dialogue. Communicators create those feedback loops.
The real opportunity
Our role as communicators is not simply to explain AI after decisions have been made. It is to bring stakeholder expectations, concerns and lived experiences into the process from the beginning, helping organizations align what they build, what they promise and how they act. Trust has always been bigger than technology. It is social, relational and human. Organisations cannot claim it for themselves; stakeholders choose whether to give it.
Technology will continue to change. The principles through which trust is earned will not.