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PR Beyond AI

Now is the time for PR to act.

Jerry Silfwer
by Jerry Silfwer

Cover photo: @jerrysilfwer

tl:dr;
For the idea of PR beyond AI to make sense, we cannot stay the same. But so far, PR has not played a role in the AI Revolution. But we should. In fact, we must.

Table of contents [hide]

What will PR bey­ond AI look like?

Living in the dawn of the Electronic Age, I some­times think about pub­lic rela­tions and its future.

I’m sure we must adapt.

If we allow the world to think of PR pro­fes­sion­als as out­dated flacks, we’ll fade into obli­vi­on while armies of digit­al mar­keters take over our responsibilities.

But so far, PR has not played a role in the AI Revolution, but we should. We must.

Here we go:

PR Beyond AI

Whenever I’m asked what I do for a liv­ing, I reply, “I help organ­isa­tions to com­mu­nic­ate bet­ter.” That, to me, has always felt like an accur­ate and mean­ing­ful answer.

But pro­gress is unavoidable. 

As the AI Revolution makes its pres­ence felt, I think about what ‘com­mu­nic­at­ing bet­ter’ will mean as we move forward.

I’m won­der­ing:

  • As PR pro­fes­sion­als, is our job to ease the replace­ment pro­cess by man­aging humans while AI machines slowly take over?
  • If so, will it be our last job as PR pro­fes­sion­als to “see ourselves out” before “turn­ing off the lights” and hand­ing over the “office keys” to autonom­ous com­mu­nic­a­tion protocols?

Replacing Humans — A Good or Bad Idea?

During the Industrial Revolution, soci­ety under­went three dis­tinct phases:

  • Phase 1: Liberating humans. The Industrial Revolution lib­er­ated soci­ety from a less civ­il­ised (and much poorer) agrari­an lifestyle.
  • Phase 2: Utilising humans. The Industrial Revolution util­ised soci­ety by school­ing us into util­it­ari­an single-out­put instruments.
  • Phase 3: Replacing humans. Finally, the Industrial Revolution replaced humans in favour of bet­ter machines.

Based on the three phases of the Industrial Revolution, we can see that whatever comes after­wards is a nat­ur­al out­come of the indus­tri­al­isa­tion process.

The res­ult was­n’t ter­rible. The AI Revolution may lead to sim­il­ar outcomes.

How AI Will Impact PR (Probably)

Overall, AI’s impact on the PR industry is likely to be sig­ni­fic­ant, with the poten­tial to revolu­tion­ise many aspects of how PR pro­fes­sion­als work and inter­act with stake­hold­ers, influ­en­cers, and pub­lics.

The AI revolution in PR.
The AI revolu­tion in PR.

There are sev­er­al ways in which arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence (AI) is likely to impact the pub­lic rela­tions (PR) industry. 

Here are a few examples:

  • More decision-level tasks, few­er pro­duc­tion-level tasks. AI-powered tools auto­mate tasks such as media mon­it­or­ing, con­tent cre­ation, and social media man­age­ment. This could free up PR pro­fes­sion­als to focus on their work’s more stra­tegic and cre­at­ive aspects.
  • Improved ana­lys­is and bet­ter strategies. The devel­op­ment of AI-powered sys­tems that can ana­lyse large amounts of data to identi­fy trends and insights that can inform PR strategy and decision-making.
  • Using PR pro­fes­sion­als as AI train­ers. Using AI-powered chat­bots and vir­tu­al assist­ants to handle cus­tom­er inquir­ies and provide inform­a­tion to the pub­lic allows PR pro­fes­sion­als to scale PR training.
  • Better pub­li­city through inter­con­nectiv­ity. The cre­ation of AI-powered plat­forms and net­works that can facil­it­ate con­nec­tions and col­lab­or­a­tions between PR pro­fes­sion­als, journ­al­ists, pub­lics, influ­en­cers, and oth­er crit­ic­al stake­hold­ers in the industry.
  • Earlier detec­tions of poten­tial PR issues. AI-powered tools can help PR pro­fes­sion­als identi­fy and mit­ig­ate poten­tial crises by ana­lys­ing data and provid­ing early warn­ing sig­nals of poten­tial problems.
  • Increased edit­or­i­al out­put. In organ­isa­tions where the com­mu­nic­a­tions depart­ment is driv­ing the con­tent strategy, PR pro­fes­sion­als will have plenty of tools for increas­ing both the qual­ity and the quant­ity of the out­put. 1Silfwer, J. (2023, March 20). The AI Content Explosion. Doctor Spin | The PR Blog. https://​doc​tor​spin​.net/​a​i​-​c​o​n​t​e​n​t​-​e​x​p​l​o​s​i​on/

More IT = We Need More (Not Less) PR Skills

Historically, soci­et­al pro­gress has often meant that humans have been freed to think, com­mu­nic­ate, and cre­ate. And it’s usu­ally in these rare and inspired times of enlight­en­ment that we take great strides towards dis­cov­er­ing mean­ing, cre­at­ing art, and under­stand­ing the universe.

For bet­ter or worse, pub­lic rela­tions is a lub­ric­ant for the inter­face between the indus­tri­al sys­tems and real people engaged in pro­du­cing and consuming. 

This is how PR pro­fes­sion­als have found their role in the great­er scheme of soci­et­al development.

This is likely how we’ll find our foot­ing bey­ond AI, too.

In a post-AI soci­ety, human-to-human com­mu­nic­a­tion skills will likely be as val­ued as they are today. Perhaps even more.

Read also: PR Beyond AI

Thanks for read­ing. Need a PR spe­cial­ist?
Please con­tact Jerry for a consultation.

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Annotations
Annotations
1 Silfwer, J. (2023, March 20). The AI Content Explosion. Doctor Spin | The PR Blog. https://​doc​tor​spin​.net/​a​i​-​c​o​n​t​e​n​t​-​e​x​p​l​o​s​i​on/
Jerry Silfwer
Jerry Silfwerhttps://doctorspin.net/
Jerry Silfwer, alias Doctor Spin, is an awarded senior adviser specialising in public relations and digital strategy. Currently CEO at Spin Factory and KIX Communication Index. Before that, he worked at Whispr Group NYC, Springtime PR, and Spotlight PR. Based in Stockholm, Sweden.

The Cover Photo

The cover photo isn't related to public relations obviously; it's just a photo of mine. Think of it as a 'decorative diversion', a subtle reminder that it's good to have hobbies outside work.

The cover photo has

Sunrise over a Swedish lake - PR Beyond AI - We Must Replace Ourselves

.

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