AI: Friend or Foe to PR Professionals?

By: Miranda Perlmutter

If you ask any communications professional what the most important aspect of their job is, they will undoubtedly respond with “writing”. It’s the archetypal essential skill in communications. It’s the difference between a mediocre employee and a successful professional. Good writing is something you can’t fake. It’s the hallmark of the PR profession!

At least, it was until AI chatbots became publicly available.

ChatGPT-3 was released for public use in 2020, and since then, similar platforms have been the bane of teachers and the delight of students everywhere. Suddenly, writing was not the hurdle it had been before. Now essays could be completed in seconds just by typing in a single “prompt” sentence. In the public relations industry, this new challenger gave rise to an increasingly relevant question: Is the existence of AI an inherent threat to PR practitioners or can it offer various benefits on behalf of the PR profession?

Well, why can’t it be both?

Anyone who’s ever used an AI chatbot (and let’s face it, most of us have) knows that AI can spit out a five-page essay in the time it takes to log in to your email account; however, that essay might read exactly like it was written by a robot. It’s clinical, impersonal and sometimes inaccurate. Where AI shines is in generating ideas. When PR people get creative blocks, as everyone does, a well-formulated question to ChatGPT can spark a new flash of inspiration.

The thing about AI is that it hasn’t quite figured out how to write like a real human, complete with a foundation of real human experiences. Until Artificial Intelligence can write, well, not artificially, the finished product of written work needs to be left up to the non-artificial intelligence: us.

The communications world has always been a wild west of shifting dynamics and new developments that completely change the game. AI is a threat to foundational PR practices, but it also represents our future of automated communications tactics. If ignored, AI will inevitably become a problem, but if embraced, it could revolutionize the communications industry. It’s up to PR professionals to jump in the saddle or get left in the dust