Should You Be Using AI Spokespersons for Police Recruiting?

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Hey…do you think my videos are AI generated? 🤔

They're not, but it’s really hard to tell these days, right? AI video technology is getting very impressive and easier and easier to use.  And, with its attractive virtual speakers and real-life celebrity character avatars available, it’s no wonder people are flocking to it to help promote things. 📣

But if you’ve been thinking about using AI Spokespersons for your police recruiting, I’ve got the three reasons that will pull the plug on your AI solution…...keep reading! 👀

Hey everyone, it’s Tom Sye your Police Marketing FTO, and this week, we’re tackling a problem that does not yet exist, but is only a matter of time before someone gets the idea to try and start using this stuff for their police recruiting efforts, so I’m creating this newsletter as a sort of Minority Report to prevent you from making a huge mistake before it even occurs to you to do it.  🤯

That’s some forward thinking, right?  You’re not getting this kind of stuff from some recruiting company that just wants your money, I assure you! 💯

Listen, whether we like it or not, AI is here to stay and is only going to continue to grow…and grow rapidly over the next year or two.  AI video technology has already been just about perfected just in the last year alone, going from characters with six fingers or three eyeballs, to completely realistic looking and sounding figures that can seamlessly pitch anything you want them to. 👨👩

When you factor in how easy it is to use some of these AI video programs it’s going to get very tempting to start using them to promote your agency and appeal to a wider audience. 🍎 

 But before you even start considering it, here are the three major reasons why you should pull the plug on AI spokespersons for your police recruitment efforts…

1. It opens your agency up to liability

Now, for this one, I’m talking specifically about using those replicated celebrity characters that are starting to pop up all over the internet and social media, but I wouldn’t be shocked if someone figures out a way to argue that those other completely made up AI generated characters were somehow inspired by their appearance and thereby, they’re entitled to millions of dollars from you either. 🤷‍♂️

From Steve Harvey to Scarlett Johannson and even political figures, AI can make real looking videos of celebrities saying anything that you want.  This is a massive danger area for us because police agencies seem to love jumping on trends, remember the AI generated action figure posts from last month. 💃🕺 

Well, if you jump on this one, it could end up costing you big time.  Right now, congress is considering several legislative acts, including the ‘No Fakes Act’ to prohibit the use of celebrity or known people in an AI generated video.  Eventually, whether in law or not, one of these celebrities is going to sue someone to make a statement.  And a police agency is exactly the type of target that would accomplish that…so don’t let this happen to you.  Keep your people real.  🙂

2. They’re incredibly inauthentic

While AI created spokespersons look and feel very real, they’re just not.  And for a profession that prides itself on integrity, using a fake person to talk about how awesome a career with your agency is, sure misses the mark on that, doesn’t it? 🥴

Listen, if you want to attract more Police Officer applicants to your agency, you’re gonna have to be authentic.  Whether it’s in portraying what it’s like working at your agency, how easy the hiring process may or may not be, how much someone is going to actually make on their paycheck and not some inflated HR benefits included number, and yes, even in having true and real people being representatives of your agency…never forget that authenticity sells and being a fraud…repels. 😎

3. It stalls the police recruiting relationship building process

Lost in all the high-tech slow-motion drone video footage and sales pitch promises of more applicants, is the fact that when someone watches a video on your social media channel or website, they subconsciously start to build a relationship with the person they’re seeing. 🧠

I cannot tell you how many times I’ve stood at police testing and an applicant would come up to me and start talking to me like they’ve known me forever and tell me all about how they watch all the ‘Tuesday Tip’ videos I did at my agency.  The same thing happens here in my training business with the videos I put out every week.  People really do feel like they know you. 🫂

So, when you use an AI generated spokesperson to deliver your message, you miss out on this all-important relationship building process because there is never a chance for your viewer to actually meet the person they’ve been watching.  This leaves people, again subconsciously…they don’t even realize it’s happening, but this leaves them less committed to your agency and therefore more apt to go somewhere else because they don’t feel a connection with you. 👋

Look, I’m not against technology or AI for that matter, but if you want to start winning with your police recruiting, you’re going to have to rely on those good old-fashioned, human to human connections that have been a part of our lives for 300,000 years.  Use AI to help make tasks easier, not replace what human beings crave. 👍

Now…need some help figuring out what exactly your potential police officer applicants are craving? 🙋‍♀️🙋‍♂️

My Road to Better Recruiting online super course has got everything you need to understand your applicants, especially the newer generations, and how to not only attract them to your agency but get them into and through your hiring process! 💪

Check out the course right now and everything else you’re gonna learn on my website by visiting forcopstraining.com/rtbr. 

Know someone in police recruiting who really needs to see this newsletter?  Share it with them so they can learn too.  The future of our profession will thank you later. 🤝

Have more questions about police recruiting, marketing, or anything else you're struggling with? Don't hesitate to reach out...I’m always here to help. 🙏

Until next week my Police Marketing Squad, happy recruiting! 😃

Tom

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👋 I’m Tom Sye, your Police Marketing FTO. I founded ‘For Cops’ Training to teach Police Departments how to attract more qualified candidates through the same tried and tested methods I’ve used for the past ten years at my own department to keep up with turnover and stay ahead of vacancies.

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