Undoubtedly, most reports identify AI as the foremost opportunity and challenge. AI is so significant that it stands as the greatest opportunity and challenge, regardless of personal perspectives. I set out the three biggest challenges and opportunities for communications.

The world, and therefore the public relations profession, faces grave challenges in 2025. These range from meeting net zero targets to combat climate change, to global conflicts and tensions in Ukraine, the Middle East, and Taiwan (or even Canada and Greenland if the more outlandish commentators on Donald Trump’s pronouncements are to be believed).

These challenges are interconnected, and AI has the potential to be a force for good or evil in each.

Public trust and social license are critical challenges for AI. AI’s potential extends far beyond generative AI like ChatGPT and Copilot. Applied AI can help us to cure cancer and improve the safety of railways. Embodied AI can replace people in warehouses, drivers in cars and provide the last mile delivery to people’s homes.

PR professionals risk focusing solely on how AI can enhance their roles, while overlooking the broader issues. We know it can make many professional tasks far faster with better quality results. In fact, the first risk is too many communications leaders fail to even grasp this simple fact. The reality is too many in our industry are moving painstakingly slow, if they are moving at all. Senior leaders pay lip service to AI but aren’t investing in their teams to ensure everyone benefits and nobody is left behind.

This should be the year AI truly becomes embedded in communications. Many professionals were underwhelmed by their initial explorations of AI. But AI is improving at such a pace that it’s already 10 times better than when ChatGPT launched in November 2021.

AI can already be used effectively to assist with everything from creating communications plans and crisis communication simulation scenarios to identifying journalists most likely to be interested in a news release and analysing media coverage.

Beyond that AI can be even more powerful. It can provide audience insight beyond traditional research. If can be used a weapon to create disinformation, but it can also be used as a defence again disinformation and misinformation.

We’re seeing in-house teams and big agencies adopting AI much faster than mid-size agencies who risk a huge competitive disadvantage. Big agency groups are investing millions of dollars to future proof themselves. Mid-size agencies remain reluctant to make the investment they need to in order to flourish and even survive.

Purposeful Relations’ partners with PRovoke Media to publish the Global CommTech Report. Shockingly it found six in 10 respondents don’t even have a generative AI policy for their function and the same six in 10 haven’t had training. Giving people access to powerful AI tools without training is like giving them the keys to a Formula 1 race car when they don’t know how to drive.

If communications and corporate affairs leaders are to provide the strategic guidance they need to employers and clients, then they need to understand the impact of AI themselves.

This year the backlash against AI will grow. Most of it won’t be from informed sceptics, but rather from the broader public who are afraid of the change and don’t understand what AI really is. Applied and embodied AI has been part of our lives for years before the current hype about generative AI. Applied AI has been used to assess the safety of aircraft engines. Embodied AI is in robots picking your Amazon parcel.

The danger is that uses that have been accepted for years will suddenly face a backlash.

Communications and corporate affairs have a huge role to play. Firstly, in ensuring organisations use all types of AI ethically and responsibly. Secondly, in educating and informing stakeholders to build public trust and ensure AI has the social licence it needs to help economies grow and societies flourish.

The third challenge should be an opportunity, but the risk is the PR profession fails to grasp it and other disciplines fill the void.

AI is now an important stakeholder. What AI says about you, your brands, your company, your people, your products is shaping what people think about you and what your reputation is. There are multiple large language models you need to influence. Today it is likely different models will answer questions about you in different ways. AI’s impact on reputation needs to be in your communications strategy.

To embrace the opportunities and overcome the challenges your three priorities in 2025 should be:

• Ensuring your team is AI literate with access to the right tools and training to use AI safely and effectively. An urgent priority is ensuring you have a robust AI policy for your team.
• Improving your knowledge and understanding so you can provide strategic guidance to employers and clients about the reputational and relationship risks and opportunities of AI throughout the organisation.
• Embedding AI in your communications plan so you are effectively influencing large language models, so they answer questions about you positively and factually.