The Impact of Generative AI on the PR Function

I recently had the pleasure of taking part in PRWeek’s AI Deciphered ‘Generative AI and its impact on the PR function’ panel alongside Andy Pharoah, Joao Belo and Mariana Agathoklis Schlock. In a discussion centered around how the introduction of AI will impact the public relations and communications industry, leaders recognize the need for their companies to adopt AI. Generative AI’s influence on businesses extends beyond the automation of tasks, driving profound changes in how we operate, communicate and create value. Regardless of industry, it is crucial to understand and anticipate the change that AI is and will continue to bring – and for leaders to ‘own’ this change and initiate innovation in their organizations, rather than playing catch up.??

A crucial element of AI adoption is making the most of collaboration between AI and people. Implementing these ‘fusion skills’ will augment the capabilities of both AI and human work. Across all industries, there is a sense of hesitancy and fear of AI implementation, largely centered around the idea that AI will replace human roles and jobs. While AI is and will continue to be able to perform tasks once done by people – the need for human skills remains constant. Simply put, the answer you receive will only be as good as the question you ask, especially when it comes to the outputs of generative AI technology. Prompt engineering, for example, is the process of writing the inputs behind a generative AI model. Without a human behind the prompt, the model would not be able to action a task, and the better the prompt, the better the answer the AI model can churn out. (McKinsey). As communicators, we have the power to shift the narrative on how people perceive AI from a threat to a collaborative opportunity to promote efficiency and innovation.??

Learning to work with AI will be an ongoing process, not a one-time training. I’m reminded of a quote from NVIDIA CEO, Jensen Huang, “AI is not going to take your job. The person who uses AI is going to take your job.” I’ve always aimed to embody and encourage a culture of continuous learning. As coined by Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, a ‘learn-it-all’ culture that islis centered around learning, listening, and harnessing individuals' passion and growth is integral to an organization’s success. When it comes to the new frontier of AI, we should lean into learning opportunities for individuals at all levels of an organization and choose to be curious about what AI can help us achieve rather than letting fear of the unknown hinder our growth.?

Curiosity and continuous learning will unlock new mechanisms of creativity. Communicators can utilize AI to brainstorm ideas and better listen to key markets and shareholders. These tools can revolutionize our capabilities for audience segmentation and precision targeting to create tailored messaging that resonates with individuals and audiences. Michael’s, the craft retailer chain, is a great example of using AI to deepen customer engagement, building a content generation decision-making platform to help understand how customer segments engage with various campaign messages. After personalizing their campaigns based on these results, the click-through rate has risen 41% for SMS campaigns and 25% for email campaigns (McKinsey).??

The capabilities of AI will continue to grow – and so should our capacity to understand and utilize these advancements. By leaning into curiosity, learning and listening we can harness the power of these tools to unlock new strategies for creativity and growth.?