Conversation on artificial intelligence has died down, granting us respite from the endless articles all seemingly saying the same thing: “AI is here and those that do not adapt will be left behind”. Flak after flak has declared how they are on top of today’s current talking point and impossible to be replaced.
An honest look at the industry today and its fragility in the face of imminent technological advancement is required in my opinion. If at a minimum to balance the extensive support for claims that the technology will be our supporter rather than our supplanter. Undoubtedly, the Sir Humphreys’ reading this will say it is ‘very brave’ to try to put myself out of a job. So, do bear with me until the end to see what I believe the strongest responsibilities of public relations are and will remain untouched.
Integration
New AI tools are arriving every day to make our work easier, with the only major inconvenience being the creation of new accounts, requiring extremely difficult-to-guess and easy-to-forget passwords. As these applications seem to improve exponentially in their capability and accuracy, it is clear to see that some elements of our jobs are more at risk than others. Most at risk appears to be content creation, be it video or textual, as day by day it becomes more difficult to distinguish the authorship of content made by a person or a bot. The ability of an AI system to create and track campaigns independently is also not too far away, as systems learn the right questions to ask and implement the tools available to them to optimise reach and impact. In the short to medium term integrating these tools into a single centralised system appears to be both the logical next step for AI companies and the most significant threat to the traditional operations of PR firms.
Real-world examples can be seen in the text generation and campaign planning of ChatGPT, imagery of MidJourney, video and narration of Synthesia and real-time analytics of these campaigns using Emplifi. It is also worth remembering that we are only witnessing the beginning of AI adoption, and with increased adoption comes more resources to develop these tools even further, meaning in 5 years’ time, what is made by an AI may be at the same level or better than a human’s expertise. What would be the need of a client to hire a firm of PR experts when they can do this themselves at a much-reduced cost?
The Journalist and PR Relationship
The ability to fully deliver media relations when a client cannot by their own is an attraction for why PR agency services are required. This is why murmurings of journalist replacement, even at this early stage of AI competency is worrying for PRs too. The growing presence of digitalisation for both journalist and PR has left us vulnerable. A reliance on email and a lack of face-to-face interaction has meant much of what we do could be completed via an automated process. Email correspondence and now even phone calls are being shown to be conducted without instruction. Though, it is worth bearing in mind that some journalists will be more at risk than others, and identifying these sectors would be beneficial for operational longevity. Moving forward it may be beneficial for PRs and journalists to double down on strong relationships for news and insight, to ensure the security of our positions and value to our clients.
The Real World
A lot of the above ignores the individual motivations that compel a client to pursue a PR strategy in the first place. Human-to-human interactions supersede those online when making connections enabling trust to develop. As we know, selling via a cold email does not do as well as one following a strong handshake. Not everything is digital, and everyone has their own preferences for interaction. The PR who can contact those who prefer the human touch and manage operations in the physical world will survive.
Old Habits Die Hard
In the immediate future, the greatest strength of PR is their clients and people’s aversion to change. Today’s most popular search engine Google was released 25 years ago and we have grown accustomed to the way we access information. As a result, the jump to chatbots may be a stretch too far for many. This is where a practised human hand becomes essential to alleviate concerns and help clients achieve their goals in our rapidly changing world. Knowledge of the tech and its developments may in the short term provide an opportunity to PRs looking to extend their offering.
Confidential Consultants
If integration across applications is realised, and artificial intelligence systems do become centralised leviathans, security risks may push businesses toward human confidentiality. Everything said to the chatbot may leave a record, which could be damaging to a company’s reputation or open it up to legal disputes if information is exposed to the public. This provides an opportunity to ensure that professionals, despite the threat to the knowledge economy, can provide a service where their expertise and interpersonal skills are irreplaceable.
Regulation
The world was shocked when Sam Altman, CEO of Open AI called for regulation on Artificial Intelligence in front of a US Congress Subcommittee back in May. He called for licenses of systems that go above a threshold, to combat the risks to democracy, and definitely not the risks to OpenAI’s position as the market leader. This regulation would prevent independent, open-source developers from competing, which along as serving the interests of large companies also benefits the PR industry as it stands today. By reducing the scope for innovation, the period ahead of replacement is prolonged.
Concluding remarks
The truth is, like everyone else I do not know exactly where AI will be. Though I do believe that the responsibilities of PRs could be fundamentally different in the next 5-10 years, and that the technology will be capable of doing a significant amount of what we do today. Whether consumers adopt this tech on mass or regulatory restraint begin an inevitable march remains to be seen. If my predictions do not materialise, the resurgent fascination with AI can at least serve as a reminder of the importance of human relationships. I remain confident that Artificial Intelligence, as part of the fourth industrial revolution is a threat to the knowledge economy, and the extent to which we can evolve remains to be seen.
By Joshua Frost
