Hannah Wong, a former communications lead at OpenAI, says technology executives need to stop writing manifestos and start telling stories about how their products will help people.
Ms Wong made the comments during an event organised by Clipbook, a media intelligence platform.
The roundtable discussion focused on communications in the age of AI.
"Companies need to do more showing and less telling," she told Clipbook founder and chief executive Adam Joseph, who moderated the discussion.
"This is why these manifestos can fall flat, we don't want to hear anything anymore," she said, pointing out that too many communications firms and communications professionals working in the technology sector were releasing lengthy essays on various topics and sometimes calling them manifestos.
"Just yesterday I read one and then somebody sent me another, can we stop with it?" she said.
"I think these manifestos can fall flat when you say one thing and it's aspirational, for example, a lot of executives say AI will create opportunities for all of us but on another hand you just laid off just a couple thousand people from the workforce," she explained, pointing out that the mixed messaging creates a credibility gap.
She also said that far too many technology companies didn't have "boots on the ground" in terms of community organising and reaching out to influencers to help gain trust with a wider audience.
"You're never going to win an argument by just talking at people," she explained.
Her comments come just weeks after Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg attempted to turn around the increasingly negative public perception about AI by writing an essay.
Many outlets referred to Mr Zuckerberg's essay, titled "The future is for everyone" and clocking in at more than 6,000 words, as a manifesto.
Due to concerns about AI's potential to disrupt the labour market, harm the environment and be misused, AI companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta have faced ample scrutiny and been viewed with distrust.
Ms Wong said that from her perspective, Airbnb and Nvidia seem to be better at connecting with audiences.
"I think Brian Chesky is an amazing storyteller, and when you hear him speak it's very authentic," she said, referring to the Airbnb co-founder and chief executive.
She also echoed the sentiments of Mr Joseph, who spoke highly of Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang's ability to articulate how AI will improve society.
"He's fantastic, and it shows that we can do a better job in the industry of kind of finding those use-cases of AI and holding them up like a beacon," she explained.
"It's that classic idea of showing and not telling."
Ms Wong, who departed OpenAI at the beginning of 2026, said that during her time at the company, the company's chief executive, Sam Altman, was authentic, approachable and always willing to get the opinion of OpenAI's communications team.
"I was really glad to have that sort of relationship with all the leaders of OpenAI," she said.
