Cognition Versus Consensus: Demonstrating Reason and Creativity in Professional Communications

In response to the increasing reliance on artificial intelligence (AI) in business and college classrooms, an exercise is proposed that reaffirms the fundamental and essential functions reason and creativity perform in personalizing and vitalizing professional communications. Three competing proposals—two generated by AI; one developed without AI assistance—are evaluated in terms of how effectively they answer an assignment from senior management. Alongside highlighting the strengths and limitations of AI’s consensus-based alternatives, the evaluations provide students with a practical demonstration of the substantive contributions human cognition makes to the production of quality communications and to enhancing the reputation of the communicator.