Members already ask AI. Is your content ready?
Half of Australian employees use AI at work, and most use it to find and summarise information. What that means for an association's member resources.
Hiaitus
Most associations have the content their members need.
Policies, guides, templates and webinar recordings are all there, somewhere on the member site.
The problem for associations and for it's members is the ability to quickly finding them and use them within the specific context for each member, often leading to great content not being accessed or used.
Members have changed how they look things up
In Australia, 49% of employees say they use AI regularly at work.1 And among people who use AI chat, 68% use it to research and summarise information.2 Your members are already used to asking a question and getting an answer, not a list of links.
When the member site only offers menus and a search box, members give up, or they email your team to ask.
What an answer from your own content looks like
An AI chat on the member site lets a member ask in plain English, like they'd ask a colleague:
- How many CPD hours do I need this year?
- Where's the template for a member complaint?
- What did the June webinar cover on the new standard?
The answer comes only from the files and pages your association connects, and it names its source, so members can check it.
Where to start
- Gather what members ask about most. Policies, guides and the last year of webinars are usually enough to start.
- Put it in one place. A shared folder in Google Drive, SharePoint, OneDrive or Box.
- Keep it current. When a policy changes, replace the file and the answers change with it.
Sources
- KPMG and University of Melbourne, Trust, attitudes and use of AI: a global study 2025.
- Bain & Company, 1,117 consumers, Dec 2024.