Artificial Intelligence (AI) has quickly become a must-have tool for Public Relations (PR) professionals. With its capacity to decipher complex data sets, recognize trends, and forecast consumer behavior, navigating public sentiment and market dynamics is easier. As a result, PR professionals and organizations have much to gain, as integrating AI allows for more informed decision-making and targeted messaging.

What is Artificial Intelligence?

AI is far from a new concept, as ancient civilizations created myths around and philosophers pondered the idea of artificial beings that were both human-like and highly intelligent. However, the modern idea of artificial intelligence comes from the 1950s with the development of technologies such as the first artificial neural network and AI program. Since then, advancements in machine learning, natural language processing, computer vision, and robotics have created what we know as AI today.

But what does all of this mean for the future of PR? This article by SLX provides 13 predictions for how AI will shape the PR industry over the next decade. A few interesting predictions include using tools to identify patterns and trends in the media landscape, find industry influencers, monitor videos to track and maintain a brand’s reputation, and identify potential risks and issues for crisis management.

How Can AI Aid PR Professionals Right Now?

This article by Forbes explains that PR professionals have been using tools driven by AI, such as Google Analytics, for some time now. But the article goes further and says that companies geared toward PR such as MuckRack have been innovating with their PressPal.ai, which takes data for drafting press releases, scans for keywords, and recommends potential media targets. This alone would save countless hours typically spent researching industry leaders and collecting statistics and key phrases. When compounded with generative tools such as ChatGPT, AI has even streamlined the writing process.

Perhaps not surprisingly, all of these tools still and will likely continue to require a human touch, as relationship building remains a quintessential part of communications. For example, this article by Sprout Social highlights an especially significant drawback to generative AI when it states that a staff member asked ChatGPT to share its sources, and it admitted to creating a hypothetical idea. There are also potential issues around sharing confidential information with tools that could be leaked and generating content that uses copyrighted material.

Conclusion

The integration of AI in PR has the potential to revolutionize the industry. Its ability to understand complex data and predict consumer behavior allows PR professionals to make better decisions and communicate more effectively. While AI offers significant benefits, it still has the potential to cause problems such as data leaks and plagiarism. Even if such bugs are alleviated, PR will always require a human touch to build meaningful relations with stakeholders.

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