Dave Fulk, CEO of Reputation Rhino, helps leaders repair, protect, and take control of their online reputation.
Can you trust AI to protect your reputation—or will it destroy it?
In 2023, a New York attorney faced a courtroom debacle after relying on OpenAI’s ChatGPT for legal research. The AI-generated brief he submitted cited six nonexistent cases, leading to judicial sanctions and a stark reminder of the perils of unverified AI outputs in high-stakes environments.
In 2018, Reuters reported that Amazon’s AI-powered recruitment tool was found to favor male candidates over female ones. This bias stemmed from training data that predominantly featured male applicants, leading the AI to replicate existing workplace disparities.
These incidents highlight a critical question for today’s business leaders: As AI becomes increasingly integrated into corporate strategies, can CEOs trust it to manage their company’s reputation? The allure of AI-driven online reputation management (ORM) tools is undeniable; they offer real-time monitoring, sentiment analysis and automated responses, allowing businesses to address crises before they spiral out of control. However, they aren’t infallible, which means CEOs must tread carefully.
First Things First: Understanding Online Reputation Management
ORM is the practice of shaping and maintaining a company’s public perception by tracking, influencing and responding to online discussions. With consumer trust increasingly tied to digital presence, many CEOs use these tools to help safeguard their brands. Consider, after all, that 63% of customers said they lose trust in a business after reading mostly negative reviews, while a viral crisis can obliterate a brand’s value within hours.
However, as the events described above demonstrate, the misuse or overreliance on AI can backfire. What happens when AI ruins your reputation instead of protecting it?
The AI Appeal: Why CEOs Are Betting Big On AI
As I mentioned above, the promise of AI-driven ORM is alluring. These tools offer real-time brand monitoring, predictive analytics and automated engagement, which can help executives stay ahead of reputational threats.
A May 2024 Harvard Business Review Analytic Services survey (registration required), which polled 213 audience members of the Harvard Business Review, emphasized the critical role of AI in modern business strategies. It found that 70% of surveyed professionals consider AI implementation (beyond only generative AI) within e-commerce operations to be “very or extremely important.” However, the report also highlighted significant obstacles to AI adoption that stop organizations from adopting GenAI for e-commerce entirely, including data privacy concerns (55% of respondents), a lack of necessary AI expertise (49%) and the absence of a clear AI strategy (48%).
AI tools leverage vast amounts of data to detect negative sentiment and flag potential issues before they escalate. Some can even respond to customer complaints with natural language processing to provide rapid, consistent and often convincing messaging.
Companies are increasingly placing major financial bets on this technology. According to International Data Corporation (IDC), global spending on AI technologies is expected to exceed $300 billion by 2026, highlighting the rapid adoption across various sectors. Further, IDC forecasted that investments specifically in GenAI—valuable for reputation-focused content creation—will surpass $150 billion by 2027.
Yet, despite these advantages, AI-powered reputation management isn’t foolproof—and when it fails, it can fail spectacularly.
The Dark Side: When AI Backfires
While AI’s potential in ORM is immense, it has also shown that it can misfire, sometimes amplifying reputational damage instead of mitigating it.
Microsoft’s Tay, for example, was designed as a friendly chatbot but quickly spiraled out of control when Twitter (now X) users manipulated it into spewing offensive and racist remarks. Within 24 hours, Microsoft was forced to shut it down.
If AI-driven tools can reinforce and amplify biases in hiring, what happens when they are used to control a brand’s public image? The risk of an automated system making tone-deaf responses to a crisis is real.
Given high-profile failures, the question remains: Can CEOs safely hand over their reputation to AI? The answer, it seems, is a cautious “yes”—but only with strong human oversight.
AI excels at data-driven decision-making, rapid monitoring and sentiment analysis, but it still struggles with nuance, context and ethical judgment. AI-generated responses can lack emotional intelligence, potentially escalating conflicts rather than defusing them.
The Human-AI Hybrid Approach
The most effective ORM strategies combine AI’s computational power with human expertise. I recommend adopting a hybrid model, where AI handles data collection and flagging, but human teams oversee messaging and crisis response.
This blend ensures AI’s speed and efficiency are balanced with the human ability to read between the lines, interpret cultural sensitivities and craft responses that resonate authentically.
The Future Of AI In Reputation Management
AI-driven ORM is evolving rapidly, with advancements in context-aware AI, emotion recognition and ethical AI frameworks. Tech giants and startups alike are working on models that can understand sarcasm, adapt messaging dynamically and learn from past crises to improve future responses.
However, regulatory challenges loom. Governments worldwide are scrutinizing AI-driven decision-making, and new laws could require greater transparency and accountability in AI-powered reputation management.
CEOs who rely on AI without human oversight risk disaster. The key is balance. Companies that embrace AI while maintaining rigorous human oversight and ethical guidelines will be best positioned to navigate the digital reputation battlefield.
In the end, AI can be either a company’s greatest asset or its biggest liability—and the difference lies in how wisely it is used.
Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?
Read the full article here
