We’re at several tipping points of global disaster – science comms must step up

It’s fair to say things aren’t looking too good for us.

Yet the public discourse remains the same: at best optimistic, and at worst dangerously complacent. Whether it’s climate change or global pandemics, we cling to the belief that the ‘lab coats’ will save us.

Wearing those ‘lab coats’ are, of course, many unsung heroes of society: scientists, experts and the ecosystems that surround them. We look up to them as our saving grace as they work tirelessly to conjure up solutions, innovations and technology that scratch away at all those looming catastrophes we hear about on the news.

But this faith masks a deeper issue: a lack of effective communication from the science community leaves many unable to grasp the importance of scientific efforts, limiting meaningful public engagement and support.

What Covid-19 and ChatGPT taught us about science comms

There is no better example of these risks than during the Covid-19 pandemic. While many of us fought with Zoom on our virtual quizzes, virologists, biochemists, and immunologists (among others) were battling away to conjure up vaccinations. They succeeded, unlocking us from the comfort of our homes and saving an estimated 14.4 million people across 185 countries. That’s the equivalent of the entire populations of Croatia and Portugal combined.

All this happened behind the veil of closed doors. Many of us have no idea what goes on in the background to deliver revelations like vaccinations.

Recent history is littered with innovations and technology thrown out into society seemingly out of nowhere, putting us all on the backfoot. Artificial intelligence (AI) is just the latest. Upon its release, AI chatbot ChatGPT hit a million users in five days. Tech giants called this a “Pearl Harbor moment” due to the panic and U-turns it caused in the corporate world. AI has been on an unstoppable march ever since its boom in the early 2020s, despite its strong links to disinformation, job loss and displacement, criminal use and cyber-attacks, and even warfare.

It’s no wonder that in the UK three times more people believe that innovation is mismanaged over being well managed (a trend that is consistent across 24 countries). To make matters worse, when people believe innovation is mismanaged, they are also more likely to say the following: (1) technology and society is changing too quickly, (2) the system is biased in favor of the rich, and (3) capitalism does more harm than good in the world.

To avoid these various impending global disasters we need to enact societal change: a shift in the narrative around science and technology from apathy to enthusiasm. Why? Because we need to generate the required public support – a shift that has taken the climate change movement too long to address.

But the state of science communication is currently bogged down by complexity, jargon, and aloofness. The organizations in this space excel at their research, but they struggle to translate their findings into language that resonates and connects with the public. As a result, public understanding and behavior lag behind what we really need to effectively mitigate impending disaster.

What the world needs is to bring innovation out from behind its closed doors.

What’s the solution?

The answer lies with scientists themselves.

Because scientists are uniquely positioned to shift the narrative. They are ranked as the most trusted group of people to inform you about new innovations, and to lead their implementation. And when the general public know that innovation is evaluated by scientists, the acceptance of it increases, on average, by 49.6% - including around topics like AI and green energy.

Simply put, when the public see scientists give something the thumbs up, they too give it the thumbs up.

Still, communicating topics such as AI and green energy is easier said than done – particularly for the science community. According to that same research above, nearly half of people believe scientists don’t know how to communicate with ‘people like them’. Our own research at Radley Yeldar shows that the companies around them are plagued with communication issues such as a superficial tone of voice, stock imagery, and language that talks post their audience.

So the science and tech worlds need a helping hand climbing out of their ivory tower and appealing to the masses.

When we analyzed the communication efforts of companies across the science, tech and engineering industries, and spoke to communication leaders who are wrestling to generate public engagement, it led us to seven guiding principles that will breathe new life into science communications, enabling them to captivate your audience.

Science organisations have the power to transform public perception, drive global change, and lead us boldly into a future where innovation triumphs over catastrophe – but only if they learn how to communicate.

Co-authored by Toby Benning-Batstone, analyst at Radley Yeldar.