“AI gained’t exchange people — however people with AI will exchange people with out AI.”
-Karim Lakhani, Harvard Enterprise Faculty professor specializing in office know-how and AI for the Harvard Enterprise Overview.
As PR professionals, we discover ourselves at a novel juncture: Synthetic Intelligence presents the chance to considerably improve our skills relating to media relations (the bread and butter of our occupation) — however utilizing AI will not be with out danger.
Earlier than diving into this new know-how, right here are some things communicators ought to contemplate:
Your artistic lifeline: How AI rescues writers from stagnation
For these of us who establish as exterior processors — people who thrive by pondering out loud — AI generally is a game-changer. Within the fast-paced world of PR, we regularly discover ourselves grappling with time constraints that forestall us from partaking in prolonged brainstorming periods. When used correctly, AI can tackle the position of collaborator, seamlessly remodeling our scattered concepts and descriptions into cohesive and compelling narratives, press releases, or pitches.
As well as, writers who’ve labored on the identical model for an prolonged interval, typically spanning months and even years, might discover themselves inadvertently confined by the established model pointers. These pointers can turn into deeply ingrained in our minds, inhibiting the exploration of recent and artistic writing approaches. Generative AI will be a useful useful resource in such conditions, providing a recent perspective and inspiring experimentation, serving to writers break away from the constraints of familiarity and inject new life into their content material.
Certainly, whereas AI will be a useful instrument within the artistic course of, it’s important to emphasise that the position of the PR particular person stays paramount. AI can help, streamline, and supply solutions, however the human aspect of instinct, creativity, fact-checking, and model understanding that PR specialists deliver to the desk can’t be changed.
Maintain it safe: Safeguarding delicate data
Simply as firms created social media insurance policies within the early days of Fb and Twitter, they need to now collaborate with their common counsel or chief data safety officer to develop complete AI insurance policies. Speaking confidential or delicate data is one in every of a PR particular person’s most vital tasks. Asserting a life-changing medical breakthrough, introducing a brand new govt, unveiling an industry-changing product, or revealing daring new artistic — you completely don’t need these types of bulletins to leak earlier than the embargo breaks. But many firms have discovered themselves in scorching water by improperly utilizing public AI.
A strong understanding of AI, coupled with a well-thought-out AI coverage, may also help set up necessary guardrails to stop confidential data from discovering its method into open-use AI instruments the place customers have little management over their information.
Ai’s impression on newsrooms and PR: Challenges and alternatives
Very similar to PR companies and in-house communications groups, newsrooms are additionally grappling with the implications of generative AI. Are they allowed to make use of it? Ought to we disclose if AI has helped within the writing of an article? A few of these questions are nonetheless to be answered. The Related Press has put out its personal pointers, and as a frontrunner within the {industry}, it’s anticipated many publications will observe swimsuit.
So far as their interactions with PR folks, New Yorker author John Seabrook shared, “My worry as a shopper of public relations is, I’m getting 200 PR pitches a day and with AI that I’ll get 2,000 pitches a day. That’s a nightmare state of affairs that I need to keep away from.”
Moreover, journalists have reported that they’ve obtained pitches containing reward for books they didn’t creator or articles they didn’t write — all AI hallucinations.
Whereas AI guarantees to boost effectivity, warning is important for PR professionals, significantly of their engagements with journalists. The important thing lies in persevering with to thoughtfully vet media lists and personalize pitches — very similar to we did within the good previous days earlier than AI. Info generated by AI ought to at all times bear rigorous verification, guaranteeing the preservation of belief and authenticity within the quickly evolving world of media and communications.
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So, as we confront the challenges and alternatives AI presents, what’s there to do subsequent? PR professionals navigating the uncharted waters of generative AI of their media relations methods ought to flip to a few key ideas to information their strategy: curiosity, safety and precision.
- Be Curious: New AI instruments particularly created for PR professionals are popping up day by day. Now’s the time to embrace the potential of AI to revitalize content material and improve creativity.
- Be Protecting: Set up an AI coverage that enables experimentation with out jeopardizing proprietary information or data.
- Be Exact: Don’t get carried away with the efficiencies AI affords. PR folks should maintain tight to their requirements to keep up their relationships with the media and stay efficient communicators.
Hannah Freedman is director of media and communications at Notified.
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