Jack Molisani: The Impact of AI on Technical Communication – Episode 30

Jack Molisani As the founder of the long-standing LavaCon conference and the principal at a technical content staffing agency, Jack Molisani gets a deeply informed view of the world of technical communication. While he sees the opportunities that generative AI presents, he raises several concerns for technical content strategy practitioners, among them the inaccuracy of generative AI content and the inability of AI tools to comprehend subtle human communication clues. We talked about: his work as the Executive Director of the LavaCon Content Strategy Conference and at ProSpring Staffing, a technical communication job agency how a change in the LinkedIn messaging interface inspired him to spend more time at in-person events his observation that many product features that are promoted as "AI" are actually capabilities that have been around for years his concerns about the ability to identify and vet the sources that AI tools cite his assessment of the job prospects for technical communicators in 2024 his exasperation with the decline in quality of applicant tracking systems (ATS) some of the tasks in technical communication that AI can help with the inability of AI tools to account for subtle human communication dynamics like facial expressions how using AI writing tools can misrepresent your own writing ability how a speed networking event that troubled introverts at a prior LavaCon led to the introduction of calming therapy animals at the event, including a therapy llama Jack's bio Jack Molisani is the President of ProSpring Staffing, an employment agency specializing in content professionals (both contract and perm). He's the author of Be The Captain of Your Career: A New Approach to Career Planning and Advancement, which hit #5 on Amazon's Career and Resume Best Seller list. The first printing is sold out. Watch for a soon-to-be-released second edition. Jack also produces The LavaCon Conference on Content Strategy, which contains an AI track. The 2024 conference is 27–30 October in Portland, Oregon. Register using referral code LSPODCAST for $200 off in-person tuition. Connect with Jack online LinkedIn LavaCon content strategy conference Prospring Staffing Video Here’s the video version of our conversation: https://youtu.be/RsgY89El1Aw Podcast intro transcript This is the Content and AI podcast, episode number 30. The rise of generative AI affects every type of content practice, including the venerable institution of technical communication. Jack Molisani runs both a tech comms staffing agency and the annual LavaCon content strategy conference, which he's organized for more than 20 years. Jack brings a deeply informed perspective to the conversation around the introduction of AI into content practice, especially its impact on employment prospects for technical communicators. Interview transcript Larry: Hi, everyone. Welcome to episode number 30 of the Content and AI Podcast. I'm really excited today to welcome to the show Jack Molisani. Jack is a legend in the textbook, communication, and technical content strategy world. He's the executive director of the LavaCon Content Strategy Conference. He also runs a staffing agency called ProSpring Staffing. Welcome, Jack. Tell the folks a little bit more about what you're up to these days. Jack: Wow, okay. As you said, I'm running around two spheres. One is producing the LavaCon Conference in content strategy. The other one is running a staffing agency for technical writers and other content professionals. Although we also have a division that does engineers, and there's some crossover there. What's interesting, and it's almost a side note but since you asked what I've been up to, is I've discovered that it's almost impossible for me to land new staffing clients over the internet anymore. Larry: Interesting. What's going on there? Jack: It used to be that someone would post a job on LinkedIn,