Have you ever heard of a domain expert Large Language Model (LLM)?
These are the future of AI for all organisations, and I’m currently building one.Â
Welcome to AI SIX. I’m Joanne Sweeney, and today I want to explain why domain-specific AI models are the future – and why I’m building one.
Why General-Purpose AI Falls Short
Tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini are powerful — but they’re trained on the internet. That’s both their strength and their limitation.
When you ask a general-purpose AI a specialist question, you get a general-purpose answer.
It doesn’t understand:
- Your sector’s terminology
- Your regulatory environment
- Your internal processes
- Your real-world constraints
For communications professionals, this shows up all the time.
You ask for a press release, and it sounds like a press release — but not your press release. It doesn’t reflect your house style, your stakeholder sensitivities, or your approval process.
For government communicators, the gap is even wider.
General AI doesn’t understand ministerial protocols, parliamentary conventions, political context, or the implications of what shouldn’t be said.
The result?
You spend as much time fixing the output as you would have spent writing it yourself.
That’s not augmentation.
That’s editing a poor first draft.
Enter: Domain Expertise LLMs
A domain expertise LLM is trained or tuned on specialist knowledge. It understands the language, context, and patterns of a specific field.
We already see this in action:
- Med-PaLM in healthcare
- ClimateBERT in climate science
- BloombergGPT in finance
These models don’t just know about their domains — they think in them.
In practice, that means:
- A legal AI that understands case law citation formats
- A medical AI that recognises drug interaction protocols
- A financial AI that can interpret regulatory filings
For communications, a domain expertise LLM would understand:
- The difference between a holding statement and a reactive statement
- When something needs ministerial escalation
- The FOI implications of drafted content
- The political and reputational risk behind every word
How These Models Work
Most domain expertise models use Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG).
That means:
- You’re not retraining the entire model
- You’re giving it access to a curated, trusted knowledge base
- The AI pulls from that specialist material when responding
Combined with strong system prompts, you get an AI that behaves like someone with years of experience in your field.
Why I’m Building One
I’m building a domain expertise model for government communications. I’m calling it AIJ for now.
Why?
Because I’ve spent over 25 years in this space. I’ve trained thousands of public sector communicators. I know:
- The questions they ask
- The mistakes they make
- The pressure they’re under
- The outcomes they need
That knowledge shouldn’t live only in my head or in training courses.
It should be available at the moment of need:
- When someone is drafting late at night before a ministerial announcement
- When a crisis is unfolding
- When they’re trying to get sign-off on a sensitive campaign
A general chatbot can’t do that.
A domain expertise LLM, built on real frameworks and real-world experience, can.
The Bigger Opportunity
This is where AI becomes genuinely useful for professionals.
Not replacing expertise — encoding it.
Making it accessible, consistent, and scalable.
If you’re a specialist in any field, ask yourself:
What would a domain expertise AI look like for your sector?
The opportunity is enormous.
Final Thought
Domain expertise LLMs matter because context matters.
General-purpose AI gives you general-purpose answers.
Specialist AI gives you specialist answers.
The models already exist — and more are coming.
I’m building one for government communications because that’s where my expertise lives. And I believe the future belongs to specialists who encode their knowledge into AI — not generalists relying on generic tools.
Watch this space. And if you want to develop your own AI expertise for marketing and communications, check out my AI Playbook Diploma. It’s where I teach the frameworks behind all of this.
About the Podcast Host
AI and Communications Specialist | Author | Podcaster | International Speaker
Joanne Sweeney is a recognised leader in digital marketing and digital transformation, specialising in the practical application of AI to enhance communication strategies. The founder of Digital Training Institute, Joanne, empowers leaders and communications professionals to leverage AI responsibly and effectively, ensuring transparency, trust, and tangible results.
She completed the Harvard Kennedy School Executive Programme in AI and Public Policy this summer before launching her fourth book AI Playbook, in September. Joanne has also published two editions of Public Sector Marketing Pro, which were preceded by her first title, Social Media Under Investigation Law Enforcement and the Social Web.
Her books have become go-to resources for governments, public sector and policing agencies, as well as marketing and communications professionals, all navigating the challenges of the changing Internet.
Joanne is the host of the AI SIX Podcast, a daily six-minute podcast that provides actionable insights, expert interviews, and practical advice to help professionals navigate the new world of work.
