Coalition for Conservation appears to use AI on socials, grammar and spelling mistakes galore

C4C’s communications at the COP28 summit have raised eyebrows. Picture: Getty Images

The Larry Anthony-chaired Coalition for Conservation has had something of a triumph at COP28 in Dubai in pushing out its message of climate salvation through nuclear power, which has helped dominate local media around the climate talkfest.

The C4C, as it likes to be known, flew out a significant contingent of Coalition MPs to Dubai for the event, including federal opposition frontbenchers Paul Fletcher and Bridget McKenzie, as well as Liberal senators Andrew Bragg, Maria Kovacic and Dean Smith.

But there are a few curious quirks in the group’s numerous posts on the subject on LinkedIn, suggesting its social media messaging might have been getting a bit of a helping hand from Big Computing.

Among the quirks include the consistent use of US spellings (emphasizing, revitalizing, recognizing etc), and an occasionally haphazard approach to the distinction between Labor and Labour.

A few paragraphs border on the outright bizarre, including this gem of a summary of a panel on nuclear energy:

“Kevin Hogan from Australia shared the Coalition’s efforts in tackling climate change.

“He briefed the US Congress on Australia’s ambition to reconsider its current stance on nuclear energy, signaling a potential policy shift.”

Margin Call feels reasonably confident in saying that, even if members of the US Congress were present in the audience, a panel at Cop28 doesn’t count as briefing that august institution.

Or this report on a meeting between British and Australian conservative politicians:

“At COP28, We had the opportunity to engage in a thought-provoking discussion with UK Conservatives and The Coalition. Here’s a snapshot of the insightful dialogue:

“In Australia: Cost of Living Crisis: The biggest challenge currently faced is the surging cost of living. Key factors include early closures of coal power stations by Labour, leading to an unstable electricity grid. Missed Climate Targets: Despite Labour’s efforts, their failure to meet emission targets while emissions and living costs rise was a focal point.”

Note that UK Labour is not the same as the Australian Labor Party.

Margin Call’s instincts would have been to write the thing off as the work of an intern with a recently acquired marketing degree. But a sharp-eyed reader suggested running the posts through any of the many online checks for AI generated content.

And, curiously enough, multiple online check-bots – such as GPTZero – seemed to suggest C4C’s corporate comms got a little help along the way.

C4C’s post on the nuclear energy panels came back as a 91 per cent chance of being written by AI, with at least three other posts – all summaries of events at COP28 – also posting results above 90 per cent.

Margin Call ran a few other channels posting in a similar way on COP28 through the same AI checkbots – including a Brazilian chef claiming to have been at the event, and an Indian environmental consultancy – with much the same result.

Still, Margin Call is dubious. Separating out AI-generated content from the kind of generic glurge that makes up most of LinkedIn is surely beyond the abilities of even the most sophisticated intelligence – artificial or biological.

Still, in the interest of science this reporter ran his last three stories through the same content checkers, with only a 2 per cent chance of AI generation on average – although we are a little offended at the suggestion that the content was “mostly likely written by a human idiot”.

‘Psychosocial hazards’

It’s not often the general counsel of a large company is publicly sacked over misconduct, as IAG’s general counsel Peter Horton was shown the door last week.

It is a big call to sack your most senior lawyer. But it is also true that Australian institutions are increasingly dismissing unruly staff in order to protect – or be seen as protecting – their workforce’s wellbeing.

There is scant information about what exactly Horton – who for the last four years, until last Wednesday, was IAG’s group general counsel and company secretary – did to earn such an undignified departure. QBE’s Pat Regan must be fuming his own board hinted at so much more on the event of his own unceremonious departure from QBE a few years ago.

But IAG only referred to Horton’s “behaviour” as having fallen “short of expectations” which include “being inclusive and respectful” as outlined in its employee code of ethics and conduct.

Former IAG general counsel Peter Horton.

But Margin Call can reveal Horton was not the only person involved in the matter, and industry sources have speculated the country’s largest insurer is probably managing what is technically referred to as their “duty of psychosocial care”.

Horton, who had worked in senior legal roles at Woolworths, Transgrid and QBE before joining IAG in 2019, earned $1.2m for the financial year ending June 30, according to IAG’s annual report. He was publicly sacked without a severance or redundancy package and will only be paid his leave benefits.

This ruthless manner of dealing with the issue at hand – rather than letting rebellious high-profile employees go quietly or resign – is a strategy Margin Call is told Australian boards are increasingly considering to manage instances when conduct is at odds with a company and its ­culture.

“What bullying or repeated conduct that breaches the code can get you is the risk of psychosocial claims and the regulator coming in from a workplace safety perspective,” an industry source told Margin Call. That risk arises if inappropriate ­behaviour troubles somebody who has a mental health “reaction” to it. An obligation would then exist to deal with a breach of the code of conduct but also with the potential complaints from other employees that the duty of care to them hasn’t been met.

It is one of the biggest safety issues companies and boards are currently facing.

Therefore, and very ironically, lawyers are now advising companies to be more attuned to managing “psychosocial hazards in the workplace” and the “psychological health and safety and wellbeing of employees” as another adviser puts it.

Which then means there is increasingly less tolerance among companies towards disrespectful or poor behaviour, particularly from senior people. There you have it. While Margin Call can’t yet report the specifics of Horton’s breach, the buzz among legal circles suggests this case will undoubtedly serve as a valuable learning experience for others.

Exodus continues

Fortescue appears set to end 2023 much as it began, with a few more executive departures.

The latest is an executive director from the company’s much vaunted WAE division (formerly known as Williams Advanced Engineering), Craig Wilson, who will leave the company at the end of the year.

Fortescue executive chairman Andrew Forrest. Picture: SoCo Studios

Wilson has been with WAE for more than 10 years. His departure, though, should probably not be seen as too much of a surprise as Fortescue re-purposes the company as a key part of its efforts to develop battery-powered haul trucks, given Wilson was the company’s head of motorsports – a part of WAE that appears to be getting left behind in Andrew Forrest’s push to turn Fortescue into a green energy major.

Still, Wilson’s exit keeps the revolving door at Fortescue spinning, given it comes only shortly after that of Fortescue Energy’s Southeast Asia president Allard Nooy, who left the company in October after less than 18 months with the company.

Fortescue’s head of people, Matt Brady, quit the company in October and Todd Clewett, director of government affairs and sustainability in Fortescue’s US operations, also recently announced plans to leave.