Will AI Replace Public Relations?

A question that is asked a lot among public relations professionals these days is: Will AI replace public relations?

The short answer is: No.  

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into nearly every industry is reshaping how professionals approach their work. While the notion of AI replacing PR practitioners might seem daunting, the reality is far more nuanced and promising.

AI is not here to take over our jobs but to expand our capabilities as PR professionals, providing helpful tools that enhance our efficiency, accuracy, and strategic insights. This blog will explore the multifaceted role of AI in PR, demonstrating how it serves as a valuable ally rather than a replacement. It will also offer practical advice on leveraging AI to elevate your PR game while being mindful of the risks of using AI carelessly.

Impact of AI on Earned Media and PR

One of the indirect impacts of AI relates to earned media and the news business. AI tools are still notorious for hallucinating and getting basic facts wrong. To improve the quality of the answers provided by these tools, many AI companies are working to identify and strike arrangements with reliable, fact-checked sources of information.

These efforts are resulting in partnerships between AI firms and news outlets because of the desire to feed trustworthy, accurate information into AI models. A recent article from the Wall Street Journal details a $250 million deal between NewsCorp and OpenAI that allows the AI firm to utilize NewsCorp’s consumer-facing news publications to train their models to answer user queries.

This growing demand among AI firms will only benefit PR pros in the long run and ultimately make our jobs more valuable. How? Because as the demands put on reporters, producers and editors are becoming greater, ethical and responsible public relations experts can help provide reliable sources of information and subject matter experts to these news professionals.

Benefits of AI

AI benefits PR professionals through its ability to analyze large amounts of data from multiple sources like social media, news articles, and blogs. This provides us with real-time feedback and trends, allowing us to make better, more informed decisions for our PR strategies.

AI tools for public relations are excellent for automating manual tasks that we frankly just don’t like spending hours on anymore. A small sampling of what AI can assist with includes:

• Research and summarize complex topics or data
• Proof drafts of press releases or media pitches
• Synthesize and combine related topics or information
• Brainstorm ideas for media advisory headlines or email subject lines
• Suggest upcoming trends in a given industry

As its capabilities grow, it’s becoming more essential to stay on top of how AI can complement our roles. The models and available tools are changing and improving almost daily, so PR professionals should strive to remain current on the latest changes and breakthroughs in AI.

Risks of AI

Despite all the potential benefits of using AI as a digital thought partner, savvy PR pros must also remember the risks of using these tools.

AI models, despite recent improvements, are still liable to get facts wrong or simply hallucinate. Knowing this, any output produced by an AI tool should be thoroughly checked by a knowledgeable human for accuracy and reliability.

Not only can the answers an AI produces be wrong (and many AI models include a disclaimer warning the user that the answers provided may be incorrect), but they can be biased as well. AI can be biased because it relies on data and information from a variety of online sources, which themselves may contain inaccuracies, stereotypes, and prejudices. This dependence on potentially flawed sources can lead to biased outputs.

(This is why, as noted above, AI companies are striking deals with news organizations: to reduce the likelihood of producing biased or inaccurate answers.)

The matter of data privacy also comes into play when inputting potentially sensitive, private or embargoed information from clients. Depending on the platform you are authorized to use, your confidential information may be used to train the AI model you’re using.  In these cases, there is a very real risk of the information you provide to the AI being repeated or revealed to other users of the same AI tool.  

For example, you may be drafting an embargoed release with sensitive information about an important new product launch or a quarterly earnings report. You definitely don’t want that confidential information falling into the hands of your client’s competitors, giving them insight into your client’s strategies and potential competitive advantage.

Become an Effective AI Prompter

To maximize the benefits of AI tools, become an effective AI prompter. Some helpful guidelines:

• Focus on your prompt, first and foremost
• Converse to AI as if it were a person
• Set the stage and provide context
• Tell it to assume the identity of a profession
• Keep it on track with follow-up questions and prompts
• Suggest a tone (professional, friendly, enthusiastic, etc.)
• Re-ask it a question with subtle word changes
• Use positive language
• Ask it to justify or support its answers
• Compare responses to the same prompt from different AI models

As an example, you decide to consult an AI to explain a new concept so you can be more knowledgeable when drafting a press release. You can either say:

A: “Explain [concept] to me in simple terms.”

OR

B: “You are an expert in [field] and excellent at explaining [topic]. Explain [concept] to me so that I will have a better understanding of the most important elements of [concept].”

Which prompt will give you the best result?

(Answer: Most likely B)

The second prompt might take a couple of seconds longer to write, but the results are worth it. By giving the AI more context and allowing it to step into your role, you are pushing it to work harder for more detailed results. The rule of thumb is the clearer the prompt the better the output. For generative AI platforms like ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, and others, the quality of what you put in will determine the quality of what you get out.

What’s Next

So you’re deciding to leverage the power of AI. What should you do?

A key takeaway is that the PR pro who relies only or primarily on AI will produce far inferior work to the PR pro who uses it wisely and judiciously.

In fact, a colleague of mine was recently asked by a reporter if any of the information she was providing was generated by AI. The reporter wanted to be clear that none of what was being provided had been AI-produced. I suspect more and more reporters will become more discriminating about pitches, quotes, content, and information provided to them to be sure it’s from a human.

But there are still ways to use AI tools wisely:

• Stay updated with its risks and benefits
• Check for biases and incorrect information
• Be aware of your company’s AI policies (which platforms you’re authorized to use and for what purposes)
• Communicate with your clients on their views of AI (are they okay with you using it?)
• Understand reporters’ positions and attitudes toward AI-infused (or, for some, AI-tainted) content
• Become an expert prompter

While AI can offer a solid foundation of ‘good’ work, it may not always achieve the high-quality results you or your client desire. To deliver the exceptional, A+ work your clients expect, it’s essential to incorporate thorough fact-checking and the irreplaceable human touch. AI is a great brainstormer or thought partner, but we should not abandon our unique voices and authenticity.  Public relations will continue to be an industry founded on human relationships and effective, original storytelling.

Conclusion

While AI is influencing the field of public relations, it is not poised to replace the human touch that defines our profession. Instead, AI serves as a starting point to support the PR pro’s creative process. Ultimately, the integration of AI and human expertise will continue to drive the evolution of PR, ensuring that we remain indispensable in an ever-changing landscape. So, no, PR pros aren’t going anywhere.

Thanks to Pierpont intern Isabella Busby for researching and drafting this blog post. 

The image at the top of this blog post was created using ChatGPT 4o.