January 10, 2025

Emphasising the growing challenge of maintaining meaningful human input in an era increasingly dominated by Artificial Intelligence and automated content, Richard Gillis questions the ability to choose the most effective communicator

No.8: December 2024 
Guest author: Richard Gillis 

Richard Gillis’ distinguished career combines award-winning journalism with strategic advisory roles for leading sport’s governing bodies, sponsors and agencies. As editor of SportBusiness International, he played a key role in shaping critical debate within the sector and remains a regular contributor to high-profile publications including the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, The Observer and The Irish Times. His insights have been sought by both national and international media, cementing his position as an experienced voice on the business of sport. 

Richard’s book ‘The Captain Myth’, which examines the concept of leadership through the lens of the Ryder Cup, was met with widespread acclaim and was named The Guardian’s Sports Book of the Year. In recognition of his influence, Richard was ranked 5th in the sports category of PR Week’s Powerbook list of industry influencers, highlighting his significant contributions to the sports industry. 

While lamenting the inability to find a definitive answer for the most effective communicator in the sports business in December 2024, a broader critique of the digital age is given by Richard, particularly the increasing presence of Artificial Intelligence in creative fields. Through an analysis of his own Artificial Intelligence search, he illustrates how modern technology has the capacity to reduce complex ideas into systematic outputs that lack originality or critical thinking.   

Jon Tibbs got in touch and asked, as he does, who was the most effective communicator in the sports business in December 2024? 

This is a question about which Jon Tibbs is obsessed, pestering me with questions as to the identity of the most effective communicator in the sports business in December 2024. 

Zoom calls. WhatsApp messages. Shouting at me through the narrow horizontal window on the top of the 207 bus. His face squeezed through the gap, spittle running down the glass. 

Let it go, I say to him: It’s a question that’s just too big, it will always lie just beyond our understanding. 

But I buckled. 

My first nomination was of Our Glorious Leader, Gianni Infantino, for his announcement of the 2034 FIFA World Cup bid winner. 

But I was advised that this wouldn’t be in keeping the upbeat spirit of the ongoing JTA Communicator of the Month Website Based Thought Leadership Series. 

So, instead, I’ve gone for a very January 2025 solution, which is to ask AI. 

There was a time – from the publication of the Gutenberg Bible in the mid-1400s, to about last April – when the job of writing something was carried out by actual human beings. 

But AI has solved for the Jon Tibbs problem: The friction of thinking about something and then typing it has been removed. 

The gods of Silicon Valley have come to my rescue by creating a marketplace based on industrialised stealing. 

So, I opened Perplexity and typed ‘Who was the most effective communicator in the sports business in December 2024?’ 

The answers were grimly predictable and delivered in the relentlessly upbeat yet colourless voice of a second jobber at a mid-ranking consultancy firm: 

1. Nike’s “Winning Isn’t Comfortable” Campaign: Nike returned to its roots with this campaign targeting casual runners. The ads resonated globally by portraying the struggles and triumphs of everyday athletes, reinforcing their mission to inspire all bodies as athletes. 

2. Liverpool FC’s Farewell to Jurgen Klopp: The club executed an emotional long goodbye for manager Jurgen Klopp, blending heartfelt storytelling with impactful branding. This approach struck a chord with fans and showcased effective emotional communication. 

 3. Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1’s Tribute to Lewis Hamilton: The team marked Lewis Hamilton’s departure with a poignant video campaign, highlighting his legacy through emotive content that transcended his on-track achievements. 

4. NFL’s “Simpsons” Alt-Cast: During a Bengals vs. Cowboys game, the NFL introduced a “Simpsons” universe broadcast. By blending sports and pop culture, this innovative approach captivated younger audiences and created viral social media buzz. 

5. WNBA All-Star Game Activations: The WNBA shattered viewership records and became a prime platform for brand activations, capitalizing on the growing momentum of women’s sports and sparking increased media attention. 

Now…as we’ll agree, there are some issues with these answers. 

First, they have ignored Jon Tibbs’ central question – who was the most effective communicator in the sports business in December 2024? – and instead sought to answer a version of it, which is easier, and which was available to its databank of stolen thoughts. Rather than selecting an individual – Gianni Infantino, Patrick Nally, or the Archbishop of Canterbury, say – the AI instead offers a random load of news headlines, followed by overly positive generic praise which a stupid person could easily mistake for analysis. 

So on and on we go, interrogating the data further (higher level stealing). 

At each step, ChatGPT and its mates offer up crap but plausible answers, each of which it claims are moments which exemplified creativity, emotional resonance, and cultural alignment in sports marketing and communication. 

Cut to: The clever conclusion. 

2025 is when Generative theft AI is embedded in to every app and operating system. It will dictate not only what we write, but what we read and therefore what and how we think. 

We’re entering an era of the summary, when everything is being condensed by everyone all the time. 

And that includes yours and my own life’s work. 

Every random shower thought that made its way to Twitter, every word mumbled in to a podcast microphone or captured whilst delivering that thrillingly counterintuitive keynote conference speech. 

It’s all in the machine, ready for someone else to take and use in their own website based thought leadership series. 

Most of the time it’ll be ok. I don’t want to actually think about writing emails to that bloke I met at Leaders in 2019 who mistook my drunken enthusiasm for his turnkey-software-as-service-tech-stack as a buy signal. 

 But what about the important stuff? My fear is that I’ve disappointed Jon Tibbs on a fundamental level, and that despite the noise, we’re no closer to knowing with absolute certainty the most effective communicator in the sports business in December 2024? It’s more than I can bear.