Three Clock Problem

AI in communications is moving at different speeds.

May 03, 2026

Agostino Ramelli’s Theatre of Machines (1588)

Two clocks are ticking in the communications business. Maybe three.

One counts down the hours: AI-mediated search results, real-time reputation shifts, the daily churn of content in an algorithmically reshaped world.

The other marks quarters, maybe months: the slow structural work of rebuilding the communications function for an era none of us fully understands.

Elif Güvençer, writing here at Reputation Signal, frames it this way and it’s one of the more useful mental models I’ve seen.

I’d add a third clock. Systemic (or Societal?), ticking faster than we might be comfortable with.

It’s hard to hold the full weight of what this technology might become.

So I keep returning to an image of Benedictine monks in 1400s France, exchanging letters about a printing press some craftsman in Mainz had apparently invented, wondering whether it might make Bible reproduction more efficient or if using it might help their monastery move up the order queue.

“We put the E into PESO, after all”...

They weren’t wrong, exactly. They just couldn’t see the full shape of what was coming.

Neither can we, if we’re honest.

But we can at least notice that the clock is running.

Give her framework a look.

Not directly related: 3 Body Problem. But it’s what I thought about when I read her framework.

Bigger than beer

That third clock isn’t abstract.

Spotted via Alison Taylor on LinkedIn: the New York Times this week reported on packed town meetings across Michigan, where residents are pushing back against hyperscale data centers appearing in their communities with little warning — projects with names like “Project Cannoli” and “Project Cherry Blossom,” quietly rezoned before anyone knew to ask questions.

It’s the scale, the suddenness, and the secrecy driving it - that’s what’s freaking people out.

The Benedictines couldn’t have mapped what the printing press would do to the church, to literacy, to power. I don’t think we can, either.

This is going to be a political issue, and that’s just the beginning.

Full disclosure

I see enormous potential for AI and as some have pointed out, I’m on the board of a Canadian company doing compelling work in the space and I advise several companies on its use.

So I have reasons to want it to work.

But, eyes wide open, right?

Special relationship

As a dual US-UK national, I had literally mixed feelings about King Charles’s visit to America, but I think he nailed it.

Here’s the BBC take:

Fashion, billionaires and jokes: Inside the White House state dinner for the King and Queen

And while I can’t call this “balance,” a view from Fox News:

King Charles follows Queen Elizabeth’s playbook with a twist during Trump state visit: expert

Divided by a common language. Not clear who said this originally but I can attest to its veracity. I’m lost in both countries now.

When it hits the fan

Few people have done more than my friend and frequent collaborator Farzana Baduel to illuminate the business of public relations, and she has earned a giant new platform for it with David Yelland and the BBC.

You can tune in on BBC Sounds but it’s also on Apple, Spotify and wherever you get your podcasts.

She has also just launched The Baduel Brief with reflections on the show, plus some bonus thoughts.

Climate survey?

For the Brits among you...The PRCA Climate Advisory Board needs your views. A survey of the industry will inform their work moving forward in support of their mission to impove the quality of climate communications in our industry.

You can complete it here.

Acronymical

I can’t calculate how many hours I’ve spent over the years trying to structure ideas around acronyms.

RADAR to FART, the story behind scientists’ obsession with acronyms

Goblins

Why ChatGPT Is Obsessed With Goblins: The Weirdest Possible Explanation

I just thought this was interesting.

STORM

As is often the case, Miranda Mitchell alerted me to something interesting happening in the creative world.

A lot of the commentary has focused on the remarkable choreography of the dance scene, but there’s a bigger story in the video that I think deserves to be seen in full.

Flag-blinded

In my head, this is related.

Banksy confirms statue of man blinded by flag in London is his work

Disinformation

Here’s the 2026 Disinformation in Society Report from the Institute of PR, flagged by Natalie T. J. Tindall

It’s worse than we thought.

Halo Trust

Sometimes you hear about the work of others and think, damn - that’s important. And hard. And impressive.

This week I had the opportunity to hear from the the team at The HALO Trust about their work to remove landlines and munitions from conflict zones - Ukraine, Syria, Afghanistan (the list goes on…)

They hire, train and lead thousands of local people to restore tens of thousands of square miles to habitable use each year. I was especially moved by the Ukraine regional leader Pete S, who just completed a three-year stint in Ukraine. Truly extraordinary.

This is of course crucial but expensive work, and I would love to connect friends in corporate philanthropy, family offices, and related funds.