by Ana ADI
Professor of Public Relations, Quadriga University of Applied Sciences
AI will remain a hot topic for 2024 for the communications world with generative AI stealing the spotlight. The rush to identify and implement AI solutions that will provide communicators with the much promised in-depth, real-time insight, customizable messaging, time and cost saving will continue. This however will require communicators to:
– learn the lingo to distinguish AI solutions
– distinguish viable and workable solutions from buzz – that means knowing how to test and verify results (and not fall for the tech hype PR and all its promoted FOMO as Clea Bourne suggests we might),
– adhere to ethical principles of veracity, non-maleficence, beneficence, confidentially and fairness through transparently disclosing AI use while respecting data and privacy and
– work together as an industry on solutions that will highlight and sanction malpractice.
A lot of enthusiasm, many risks
In the AI in PR book that I edited last year, Christina Retting and Thomas Micheleit spoke of the optimism and curiosity with which German communication professionals approached AI. That same enthusiasm and curiosity has been reported in other studies too including the AI Readiness Report and the European Communication Monitor (2021). AI is already being used for brainstorming, summarization and social media content generation. For the more advanced users, AI is used for data analysis, scenario planning, negotiation training, even voice cloning. Ethan Mollick, Andrew Bruce Smith, Philippe Borremans and Jesper Andersen have often daily examples.
Navigating the risks
However, what has also been made clear by many studies released last year is that communicators know little about the many nuances of AI (machine learning vs automation for instance). This is the main reason why Rene Seidenglanz and Melanie Baier (pages 14-26), and Hemant Gaule (pages 111-123) provide plenty of examples and definitions.
But with all the opportunities and promises to save time and money, many risks also come.
The most notable perhaps, is the potential emerging paradox of having to pay more rather than less for PR using AI tools. For instance, if creating custom messages gets easier this might also mean that recipients will be bombarded by more information making the breaking through the noise more difficult, thus requiring additional investments of time and money (see p. 128).
The human factor
Also in the book, Monique Zytnik and Matthew Lequick emphasize the importance of humans. While the two of them speak about engaging colleagues (check out their Inspire, Act, Share model) in their journey towards AI adoption, they are also pointing out to a wider learning trend post-pandemic – social learning.
Needless to say, the willingness to learn again and again (from others, with others, on our own, in social, collaborative, informal and formal settings) will be key in 2024 technological developments bringing an unprecedented level of acceleration. This, however, also reiterates how important the human element will remain in the year to come.
And while learning, and learning collaboratively, is achievable (we need both the time and sometimes the money to complete it – see my PR2025 findings), the biggest challenge and opportunity for PR – both individuals and practitioners – will stem from the ethical implications of AI use.
Ethical Considerations and Industry Response
The potential for disinformation and misinformation has been central to several PR conferences I attended in 2023 (ICCO, AMEC, BledCom, our own Kommunikations Kongress) and several associations like ICCO and CIPRalready issued AI guidelines pointing out to the need for disclosure and transparency. In fact, the recently launched Global Risks Report 2024 lists “misinformation and disinformation” as the number one perceived risk by the severity of impact for the next 2 years, with false information being added to the list.
However, disclosures of AI use remain rare. We did use AI disclosures in our AI book – whether brainstorming, translation, or editing feedback. Christopher Penn’s newsletter starts with an AI disclosure. I also saw most speakers at BOUSIAS’ 17th Corporate Communication conference in Athens mention how they sourced their images on their slides. Still, these are exceptions. Perhaps the avoidance of disclosure stems from concerns about how this would affect the perceived trustworthiness and authenticity of both the message and the user. Perhaps the avoidance comes from the fact that AI has been used in breach of company policies (we’ve seen several examples of companies banning AI use on corporate computers while employees continue to them on their own devices).
Future outlook and PR role: What will you leave behind?
Disclosure, however, is not all.
The use of AI for PR and in PR goes to the core of what role PR/Comms as a profession plays in society and the type of legacy it wants to have. And I believe, this remains the major and core opportunity and challenge for 2024 – both for individual practitioners and as a profession.
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