9 AI Prompts for Public Affairs Professionals Who Want Better Thinking, Not Just Faster Drafting
Discover 9 practical AI prompts for public affairs professionals to improve policy messaging, pressure-test arguments, anticipate objections, and communicate more clearly with EU stakeholders.
“What is the single weakest sentence in this briefing, and how would you fix it?”
This is a prompt I would probably never have come up with myself.
And yet, it is exactly the kind of question that makes AI useful for public affairs work.
Not because it writes the briefing for you.
But because it helps you test the thinking behind it.
A lot of AI use in public affairs still focuses on speed: summarise this, draft that, turn this into an email. Useful, yes. But not the whole story.
The real value is when AI helps you pressure-test your message before someone else does.
A policymaker.
A journalist.
A Commission official.
A sceptical attaché.
A client.
A colleague in the meeting who spots the weak point before you do.
So here are 9 AI prompts for public affairs professionals who want better thinking, not just faster drafting:
- Rewrite this message so it would survive a hostile question from an MEP in the relevant EP committee.
- List the 5 strongest objections a Commission desk officer at [DG] would raise to this proposal, then tighten the argument.
- Translate this policy language into something a national journalist would not misinterpret.
- What is the single weakest sentence in this briefing, and how would you fix it?
- Adapt this message for a sceptical Permanent Representation official who is short on time.
- Strip this text of buzzwords and replace them with concrete, defensible claims.
- Assume the audience is politically neutral but institutionally risk-averse, rewrite accordingly.
- What is the hidden assumption in this argument that could be challenged in a meeting?
- Reduce this to a 30-second spoken answer that sounds credible and not rehearsed.
The point is not to let AI do your public affairs work for you.
The point is to use it as a sparring partner.
To make your arguments clearer.
To make your messages harder to misread.
To find the sentence that sounds fine until someone challenges it.
To prepare for the question you hope no one asks.
That is where AI becomes genuinely useful.
Not as a shortcut around expertise.
But as a tool that helps you use your expertise better.
Stop Using AI for Answers. Start Using It for Better Questions
Discover why the real power of AI isn’t in providing answers, but in helping you ask better questions, uncover blind spots, and explore alternative perspectives for smarter decision-making.
Picasso once said: "Computers are useless, they can only give you answers."
That was true in his time, and still true today if you only use AI as a search ("answer") engine.
The real value is in the questions we ask:
- see blind spots in our reasoning ("Identify hidden biases or blind spots in my plan.)
- test assumptions we didn’t know we had ("Highlight my explicit or implicit assumptions.")
- explore alternative framings of the same problem ("How can this problem be viewed from multiple angles? How would a manager, a psychologist, a physicist, and musician look at it?") Or take these for example:
- Instead of asking “What’s the EU’s position on AI regulation?” try “What unintended consequences could the EU AI Act have for small startups?”
- Instead of “Summarize this report,” try “What’s missing from this report that an NGO focusing on circular economy could ask?”
- Instead of “Write a press release,” try “What would make this story credible to a skeptical journalist?”
AI doesn’t (and shouldn't) replace thinking. Just be sure to ask it the right way.
➡️ looking for AI workshops for your team? Influence Builders has trained 1500+ corporate and government affairs teams, and we'll be glad to work with you.
AI on LinkedIn: Hype, Hysteria, or Honest Insight?
A wry look at the LinkedIn AI conversation: from overhyped promises to doomsday takes, existential musings, and magical shortcuts. Where does reality meet rhetoric?
I get the impression that each time someone talks about AI on Linkedin, it's either:
- "oh this is such a hype/BS that only grifters talk about it"
- "you can go sit on a beach, it'll do everything for/instead of you"
- "whatever it churns out, it's a piece of cr*p that should be ridiculed"
- "here is some existential AI philosophy that I just invented"
- "a magic shortcut to hack your way to the top of the newsfeed"
- "it's the end of [name topic] and let's despair OR here is what to do about it"
- "this is revolutionary and the best of all worlds is about to come"
(I am guilty as charged of some of the above, I readily admit.)
Did I miss anything else?
p.s.: and the opportunistic plug, as the plus one: check out Influence Builders
Ethical Use of AI
Try the following, and tell me if you consider this an ethical use of AI.
Try the following, and tell me if you consider this an ethical use of AI.
1. Download a European Commissioner designate's bio, or generate one with Perplexity.ai and copy it into a document/PDF. (For instance, I tried it with Mme Ribera's, Executive Vice President for the European Green Deal and Commissioner for Climate Action.)
2. Download the same person's Mission letter, as issued by the President of the European Commission, Mrs. Von der Leyen. Add that into ChatGPT also as a PDF. (You can add a few more speeches and other background documents, too.)
3. Give this prompt: "This is a role play exercise. You represent European Commissioner-designate Ribera. Analyze her profile to understand what resonates with her, what her values and political views are. Then memorize the Mission letter she was given by the European Commission President. I will then ask you questions, as if I was asking her, and you need reply as if you were in her shoes. Ready?"
4. Chat with the Commissioner-designate. Ask her anything. Report back if the answers seem real(istic) and helpful.
What do you think....?
**This was originally posted on Andras Baneth's LinkedIn account.
Ask Better Questions
At our "AI for public affairs" workshops, Jacques would often say that to get better results, you need to ask better questions.
At our "AI for public affairs" workshops, Jacques would often say that to get better results, you need to ask better questions. (And by extension, write better prompts.)
Sure, but what does that mean in practice?
1. Instead of asking “How does EU policy-making work?” ask --> “What are the main differences between the implementing and delegated acts, and what is the role of the European Parliament and the Council in each procedure?” (note: this question is fact-based, so perplexity.ai is a probably a better choice than ChatGPT)
2. Instead of asking “What are the current priorities of the EU?” ask --> “What are the key priorities in the European Commission’s Work Programme for 2024, particularly concerning climate and digitalization, and what does it mean for wine producers?” (note: the first part is probably also better to put into Perplexity and then copy the results into ChatGPT for analysis)
3. Instead of asking "What do the European Commissioner designates’ mission letters say about EU priorities for 2024?” ask --> “First, do a comprehensive online search about the European Commissioner designates' mission letters. Then tell me what are most relevant priorities for the agricultural machinery sector?”
Finding (and asking) the right question is one of the most important step.
The good news is that even if you don't yet know what to ask, you can state the problem and ask GPT to help you formulate the right question.
Something like this: "I don't understand the difference between implementing and delegated acts. I work for a client in the heat pump sector. Help me ask the right question from GPT to be able to help my client in their advocacy work?"
If you don't know what to ask, take a step back and just say (write) so 😅
(If you're interested in learning more, join our free webinar today or watch the recording later for public affairs agencies/consultancies.)
**This was originally posted on Andras Baneth's LinkedIn account.
Overcoming AI Skepticism
To use AI for EU and public affairs (or for anything, really), those who are skeptical or new to its power will always measure the cost.
To use AI for EU and public affairs (or for anything, really), those who are skeptical or new to its power will always measure the cost (ie. time investment, learning curve) vs. benefit (just to proof read a document? that's it?) and say no, thank you. Only when they understand the incredible, *qualitatively* superior things they can do with AI/GPT do they get curious, start learning, experimenting, and gradually adopting/integrating it in their daily work.
**This was originally posted on Andras Baneth's LinkedIn account.
Academics vs “Acti-Medics"
Academics vs “acti-medics”: if an academic is an outspoken activist on their topic of research, can we still consider them trustworthy?
Academics vs “acti-medics”: if an academic is an outspoken activist on their topic of research, can we still consider them trustworthy?
Part of the scientific ethos is to avoid getting too close to the subject of their investigation, otherwise they risk having a distorted view.
Even more so in social sciences (incl. political science) where there is ample room for interpretation.
Looking at trends in European and US colleges and business schools, and their impact on policy making, those in power need to be aware and beware of evidence based policy making vs. policy based evidence making.
Nobody is better off if the latter prevails (except for the acti-medics’ ego, perhaps).
**This was originally posted on Andras Baneth's LinkedIn account.
AI/GPT for Work: A Maslow-Style Hierarchy with Claude 3.5
There are many ways to harness the power of AI/GPT for your work.
There are many ways to harness the power of AI/GPT for your work.
I created a simple Maslow-pyramid style "hierarchy", using Claude 3.5 Sonnet.
Thoughts?
**This was originally posted on Andras Baneth's LinkedIn account.
Featuritis
Featuritis: the disease of the 21st century tech companies.
Featuritis: the disease of the 21st century tech companies.
As Apple's iOS 18 has just been released, I cannot help but think of this concept.
Non-stop adding new features and tweaking otherwise well functioning ones, instead of focusing on real user needs and replacing less fancy but trusted ways of interacting with the product is what eventually starts a downward path.
As the co-founder of an e-learning platform, I've been struggling with this balance for 15 years. No second-guessing beats client feedback and observing real-time interaction with our interface.
And then lose your ego, and sometimes keeping the "old" stuff that works is just good enough.
#UX #UI #featuritis
**This was originally posted on Andras Baneth's LinkedIn account.
Turf Wars
The new European Commissioner designates portfolio, for the large part, is bound to trigger massive turf wars inside the European Commission DGs as the designations are only loosely mapping onto existing DGs, sometimes not at all.
The new European Commissioner desginates’ portfolio, for the large part, is bound to trigger massive turf wars inside the European Commission DGs as the designations are only loosely mapping onto existing DGs, sometimes not at all.
Is “food” health, agriculture, industry, or all of these?
Is “democracy” rule of law, internal affairs, external relations, or all of these?
Is “housing” about employment, construction sector, migration, or all of these?
Is “startups” about investment, funding, taxes, digitalization, or all of these?
Is “people, skills, and preparedness” about education, competitiveness, crisis management, or all of these?
Is “just transition” about energy, environment, industry, trade policy, or all of these?
Just a handful of examples the result of which is that either a massive administrative restructuring is coming, and/or at least the first 6 months of the new Commission will be spent figuring out who does what, and who (should) be the lead on a policy file among competing departments.
Just sayin’… 🫤
**This was originally posted on Andras Baneth's LinkedIn account.
EU Trends for 2024-2029
EU trends for 2024-2029 & AI for public affairs.
EU trends for 2024-2029 & AI for public affairs: a great event last week organized by The Right Street, with the generous support of FiscalNote, moderated by Milos Labovic, and hosted by Ambiorix Center. A rising tide lifts all boats ✌️
**This was originally posted on Andras Baneth's LinkedIn account.
The Draghi Report
Everyone in EU affairs knows that the Draghi report on the EU's competitiveness has just been released.
Everyone in EU affairs knows that the Draghi report on the EU's competitiveness has just been released.
It's a 400-page detailed analysis that most people have no time to read.
Those experimenting with AI/GPT have already fed it into ChatGPT and asked a summary...but there is so much more you can do with it:
1) Given the sheer size of the report, a simple upload and prompt to summarize it often yields mediocre or somewhat superficial results. A somewhat better way is to start the prompt by saying "Take your time to carefully analyze this document in depth and then come up with a summary that focuses on [...] in a [...] format". This often improves the results.
2) You can typically get even better results if you cut a large (30+ page) document into 15-20 page segments and then request various summaries for each 'small' PDF, or upload each file separately and instruct the GPT to "look" at each one by one, thereby avoiding "cognitive" overload and potential omissions. (This can also be done as a chain-of-thought, ie. step-by-step prompt.) You can use the free Smallpdf.com for this purpose, and they also have an AI-powered chat for PDFs that you can upload to their platform (like Adobe Acrobat's recently integrated paid service).
3) A more advanced level of working with complex reports of this kind is instructing the AI/GPT to focus on direct and indirect messages in the report that are relevant to *your* sector or industry, instead of requesting a generic summary. For example, if you work in the solar panel sector, use a prompt that says "Pay special attention to topics and issues that would be highly relevant, even indirectly, for the solar panel industry".
4) You can also say "Generate 10 points from the report that could be the basis for a press release that our [...NGO/trade association/company...], working in [... sector/area/policy..] could use for a press release to highlight issues that are important for us." - you use this after the above-mentioned summary, or base it on the original raw report (or PDFs).
5) You may also experiment with the above summary/extract and feeding in your organization's (public) annual report or strategic plan or policy paper, and asking GPT to "analyze how the Draghi report's findings compare to [our] plans, and where are the weak/strong points in the latter".
The possibilities are endless, only limited by our own creativity.
Hope this post gives you a few more ideas, though ✌️
p.s.: if you're interested in learning more about AI/GPT for public affairs, advocacy, and EU policy, join one of our 6 *free* webinars starting on 23 Sept 2024 with Jacques: https://lnkd.in/e6npR854
**This was originally posted on Andras Baneth's LinkedIn account.
Featured articles
and Insights
This compilation takes us through the history of the first #EPSO candidates, showcasing their journey and achievements from the very beginning to the present day—and even looking ahead.
A compilation of the first #EPSO candidates throughout history, until today and beyond.
(Have you played with ChatGPT-4o's new image capabilities? Pretty impressive.)
*This was originally posted on Andras Baneth's LinkedIn account.
Discover the inspiring story behind The Ultimate EU Handbook, a book born from the unexpected connection of a chance pitch and years of creative collaboration.
20 years ago, John Harper said 'yes' to an unknown person's unsolicited book pitch, which set of a chain of positive events. Yesterday, another book came to be as a result of two years' intense work and creativity of Sonia Gongu, Martin Tomov, Ljiljana Pavkov... and 'The Ultimate EU Handbook' was born.
Special thanks to Maryana Panyevina, Klym Ahrykov and David Meszaros for your support to make the launch event at Ambiorix Center & Podcast Studio special.
🇪🇺🙏📚
*This was originally posted on Andras Baneth's LinkedIn account.
What began as a discussion about burnout quickly turned into an exploration of something deeper. In my conversation with Dr. Vasadi Anna, a psychiatrist with decades of experience, it became clear that burnout isn’t just about long hours or stress—it’s rooted in expectations, upbringing, and the invisible pressures we internalize from an early age.
English summary of the latest episode of András' Hungarian podcast, 'Lélek Algoritmus – Ilyen az ember (avagy beszélgetések egy pszichiáterrel)' – 'The Soul’s Algorithm: The Human Condition (Conversations with a Psychiatrist).
What began as a discussion about burnout quickly turned into an exploration of something deeper. In my conversation with Dr. Vasadi Anna, a psychiatrist with decades of experience, it became clear that burnout isn’t just about long hours or stress—it’s rooted in expectations, upbringing, and the invisible pressures we internalize from an early age.
Burnout: More Than Just Exhaustion
Burnout gets thrown around a lot, but what does it actually mean? Many assume it’s just extreme fatigue, but as Anna pointed out, it’s something deeper. Burnout drains you emotionally, mentally, and even physically. It’s not the kind of tiredness that a weekend off can fix.
A key distinction Anna made: while depression can affect every part of life, burnout is usually tied to work. But it doesn’t stay there. It spreads—first to colleagues, then to family, then to an overall sense of disillusionment.
The Perfectionist’s Trap
Burnout isn’t just about overworking—it’s about overworking with the wrong mindset. People who push themselves too hard, who never feel their efforts are enough, who equate self-worth with productivity—these are the most at risk.
A common misconception: If I love my work, I can’t burn out. But passion doesn’t shield you. In fact, it often makes things worse. Overcommitting, ignoring personal limits, and relying on caffeine or alcohol to keep up are all red flags.
The Long Shadow of Childhood Expectations
Why do some people burn out while others keep their balance? Often, it starts in childhood.
Many of us grow up believing that our worth is tied to achievement. If we didn’t excel, love and approval felt conditional. Some parents—often unknowingly—reinforce this by setting impossibly high standards or withholding affection when a child falls short. Over time, this creates a need for external validation, making burnout almost inevitable.
Take elite athletes. Their entire identity is wrapped up in performance. When they lose, it’s not just a setback—it feels like a loss of personal value. The same happens in workplaces. A high achiever who misses a promotion doesn’t just feel professional disappointment—they feel like they have failed as a person.
Midlife Crisis: Burnout of the Soul
This naturally led us to midlife crisis, which, in many ways, is burnout playing out on a larger scale.
Both stem from the same root: spending years chasing external markers of success without stopping to ask, Is this what I actually want?
The midlife crisis tends to hit in the 40s or early 50s, often when several pressures collide:
- Aging Parents: The growing responsibility of caring for elderly parents forces many to confront their own mortality.
- Teenage Children: At the same time, kids are becoming more independent, adding another layer of emotional complexity.
- Career Pressures: By midlife, most people have built careers, but many start questioning if they’re on the right path.
It’s a perfect storm of obligations, internal and external, that makes people reevaluate everything—from their job to their marriage to their purpose.
Finding a Way Forward
So, how do we deal with burnout and midlife crisis without making rash decisions?
- Rethink Success – Instead of measuring success by salary, job title, or external validation, define it in terms of fulfillment and balance. If your work is draining you, can it really be called success?
- Recognize the Warning Signs – Losing interest in work, feeling detached, and struggling to muster enthusiasm are all early signs of burnout.
- Set Boundaries – Work will always demand more. It’s up to you to decide what is enough.
- Address Deep-Seated Patterns – If your self-worth depends on achievement, it might be time to rethink where that belief came from. Therapy and self-reflection can help break the cycle.
- Embrace Change – A midlife crisis isn’t necessarily a crisis—it can be a wake-up call. Maybe it’s time for a career shift, a realignment of priorities, or simply a different perspective.
Final Thoughts
Burnout and midlife crisis aren’t just work problems or age-related phases. They’re signals—urgent ones—telling us that something needs to change. The real question isn’t How do I push through? but Am I living a life that actually fits me?
If the answer is no, maybe the crisis isn’t a disaster. Maybe it’s an opportunity.
