Today, March 24th, the last week of the month of March, I began to write about a topic I chose many months ago to write for PMINJ’s Life Sciences LCI. What was the purpose of my intention to write on this topic? As I navigated through the San Fran traffic to get to the schools where I lead the students through hands-on science experiments, I wondered if the content I was to share would make an impact, and how I may need to be creative in my presentation.

Advice on scientific writing or presentation content for effective communication is galore these days. The need to reach a greater audience from the scientific community – and beyond – is well addressed these days by online publications, which feed platforms that efficiently aggregate and morph the information shared into articles, photos, infographics, blog posts, videos, informational websites, surveys, and questionnaires and more, either via a paid service or self-publication. Just ask online! So how do you start thinking about what content you want to present, or for that matter, what to access?

Expert content creators say to start by thinking of your goals and who your audience is - a scalable solution which can use different platforms to drive the content development and make it more digestible. An approach we can all use - not just for age-friendly science projects, but also in our everyday Project Management work!

Creating or sharing information in the sciences is a collaborative process, a strategy to bring new ideas, opinions, data, or valid concerns to light that scientists and science writers must address. Involving a Project Manager can help this process, from coordinating life science content, managing version control when required and understanding what viral content means and how it may impact the overall goal of the content creation and sharing “project”.

So, as we explore the changing world of communication in the sciences - via the use of generative artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT, Liner or Kontent AI - a dependence on intelligence that lives on the cloud is encouraged for the value it brings, but simultaneously may also be shunned because of associated risks.

For example, an article goes viral regardless of the platform used, judging by the number of shares and the traction it creates for the content. In science, viral content can spell wonders or disaster. For exploitation and enhancement of shared information to be an opportunity realized, credibility must also be established. What are the risks of publishing on online platforms not supported by monitoring? Does this eliminate confidence in online content creation?

To illustrate this, the latest article by the Drug Information Association (DIA) (see reference #4) on how viral content on adverse drug reactions can cause more harm than good reminds us that content and communication creation is a circle of trust, addressing the need versus expectation from society for information that brings relief, like during the recent pandemic or when discoveries are made.

Now that we have defined the content, communication begins with identifying your stakeholders. So once the content is created, communicating it to stakeholders involves use of appropriate channels specific for internal and external stakeholders. In traditional communication, it is usually PowerPoint presentation or an email or a document. But in the era of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, the options are online work breakdown models, where some are more affordable than others.

Then we need to consider, what are the ethical and best practices that we need to follow or implement for communicating complex regulatory or science information, so that we are in compliance with communication practices in the life science industry? Use of the AI tools as simple as a grammar check could spell disaster for science writing, if the system is yet to be updated with the latest findings. So, as we move forward in the world of Project Management communications, an added layer of complexity is using tools that need additional attention to syntax and context in managing stakeholder communications.

A well-thought out “how your receiver will benefit” or consideration of the receivers’ value proposition is the ultimate goal of communication. As the life sciences adopts chats, bots and more, relaying the right content needs specifics and a well formulated design. Therefore, beyond content creation and communication, is content management and strategy. This is where the Project Manager brings value – by leading the content team and other stakeholders to determine requirements, plan & manage the content creation and publication process including vetting of sources and prompts engineering, analyze and mitigate associated risks, and much more – all to ultimately benefit the target audiences.

So like in everything else, for content creation and communication projects, a Project Manager needs to be creative and agile, wearing many hats. Project Managers, are you ready for it? Should we ask ChatGPT?

References:

ChatGPT For Content Creation: Exploring The Pros And Cons (forbes.com)

Kontent AI

The Ultimate Guide to Content Project Management - DivvyHQ

Can Rapid Dissemination of News on Adverse Drug Reactions Cause More Harm Than Good? (diaglobal.org)

The role of ChatGPT in scientific communication: writing better scientific review articles - PMC (nih.gov)

‍