Helping companies navigate new situations, new technology, managing communication challenges, or educating audiences is nothing new to the PR world. But why does it feel so different with AI?
I’m not sure I’m supposed to say this, but it’s been 25 years in this industry, and I have yet to write for Bulldog Reporter. Which makes my topic all the more interesting because I was wondering what the 2000 version of me—clean-shaven, tie-wearing, shoulder-bag-carrying, clip-cutting, slide-posting me—would say if I asked him what he thought the most important thing PR pros should do when it comes to AI adoption.
First, he’d say, “What’s AI?”
Next, that new grad version of me, who does not have all the distractions and baggage—er, I mean experience—that comes from 25 years in any profession, would quickly say, “Control the message.”
And he’d be right. (Wait, I’d be right? Well, either way—it’s the right answer.)
If you think about the environment we’ve lived and worked in since Nov. 30, 2022, when ChatGPT was released to the world, emotions, responses, opinions, judgements have been all over the place. Add to that the public relations professionals’ kryptonite—not having a manual—and it’s safe to say this new technology has been the cause of some immediate stress.
Well, maybe not immediate. One of the biggest issues I noticed early on was that the industry wasn’t really taking AI seriously. It was a toy. A parlor trick. Something to finally help us answer the question, is a hot dog a sandwich? (Guilty.)
Beyond this fun, experimental stage, most people didn’t see this as disruptive technology. And right or wrong, several companies opted for the ‘choose not to participate’ box.
But, as a recent Financial Times article points out, employees didn’t get that memo. In fact, they are using generative AI faster than companies can police its use
As the technology started to grow and really take root in terms of how it could be used—as more of a coworker than a playmate—the conversation turned. As our industry began to see the many, many ways marketers and communicators could be impacted, questions brewed. A few that I have spent a decent amount of time talking about:
- Who owns the content that is developed? Specifically, if an employee creates something, while employed, but is then let go or leaves—does the company or the employee own that? Or does AI?
- If I use AI to assist me in something, and it reduces my time, how will I still add value or bill my client or company?
- How do I keep employees from using it? I don’t want to be liable if they create something with misleading information.
We are dealing with a new, disruptive technology that is growing faster than we can truly comprehend. There are no tried-and-true best practices for us to follow. One of the biggest risks—employee usage—is likely happening without management even knowing. And there is no historical precedent that will help us manage the threats (and potential) of this new technology.
PR pro, PR pro, what do you see? I see a crisis situation staring at me.
I’m reassured, however, by the fact that I don’t know if there is anyone better suited to navigate where we are going with AI than a PR professional—but we haven’t fully embraced our role in this strange new world that is quickly engulfing us.
I’m here to tell you, we’ve got this. PR pros are programmed to navigate the impact of AI because we already have the knowledge, tools and fortitude needed to effectively lead our organizations.
Knowledge
You don’t have to look far for guidance on how to navigate AI with your teams and agency. Just follow what we know best—three of our core PR principles.
1) Control the message
“Are we allowed?” “Should we tell anyone?” “Is this OK?” These are all questions your agency or team should not be asking—especially at this point in the game.
One big thing COVID taught us is that not having a policy or messaging is your policy or messaging. In other words, not communicating your AI position or intentions around how it should be used leaves the door open for exactly what you don’t want—misuse.
So, if you haven’t taken the time to communicate AI usage, expectations and a road map, start there. If you’re looking for a resource to help you get started, I would highly recommend the Marketing Artificial Intelligence Institute.
2) Know your audience
If you’re in public relations, you are very likely a Type A personality. An overachiever. A perfectionist. A worrier. Maybe just one or two of these, or all of the above. Think about your agency or teams through this lens as you’re communicating your AI vision.
One of the most exciting aspects of AI is there are no guardrails. One of the most terrifying aspects of AI is there are no guardrails. So, create some. In addition to sharing your vision and goals, establish checkpoints. Check-ins. Idea sharing. Show-and-tell. Anything that will help your team explore (and learn) with purpose.
3) Three T’s
Ah, one of my favorites. A perfect reminder that throughout the process you need to be in constant communication.
With a topic that is changing as fast and as much as AI, is it possible to communicate too much? Likely no—but given the amount of information out there at the moment, we have to respect our audiences. So, as a reminder:
Tell them what you’re going to be sharing and why. Tell them the impact and what it means to them. And finally, tell them what you just told them, hitting the key points to summarize is the best way to organize your thinking.
Tools
Next, let’s look at the tools we have. No, not physical tools—I’m talking about our interpersonal skills that are a big reason we were drawn to this profession.
Organization
Admit it. You get excited about cleaning out your closet. Organizing the garage. Spring cleaning. You very likely possess the ability to help organize your team in a way that will help them move along the AI path that has been established.
This is much harder than herding cats. We’re now managing people’s attention spans. The rabbit holes you can go down once you’re comfortable with the AI tools. Without some sort of order or plan to manage those earlier mentioned guardrails, you will have a hard time tracking what is being learned.
At Akhia we have a few ways of doing this:
- One internal meeting a month focused on AI insights, best practices and the latest use cases.
- An internal Teams channel dedicated to insights, whether industry related or our own.
- The AI Round-up, a weekly newsletter put out by me, where I act as a human aggregator, rounding up all the AI stories that you need to be aware of.
- AI roundtables with clients and contacts, just to review the policies, uses and hurdles organizations are facing.
- A resource folder with our AI policies, shared best practices and prompt examples and libraries.
Again, there is no ‘wrong’ way to do this. At this point, just starting with something is the best advice and approach.
Connectivity
You know how everyone says AI shouldn’t be scary? How it won’t take our jobs? Well, that’s not true. It can be scary. And it will replace jobs. (See: Christopher Penn’s take on recent report from The World Economic Forum.)
The deeper we get into learning and experimenting with the different types of AI tools, the more people will need each other—need the human touch. As a leader, make sure you have an answer to the question: “Why are we doing this if it’s just going to take my job?”
You know the best way to talk about the importance of the human touch? To have ongoing human interactions and discussions about this. In my role, it’s important to pursue this topic to help our clients and employees understand the impact of the ‘human in the loop.’
One valuable resource for this is Ethan Mollick’s book, ‘Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI.’ I received and read this book on the third week of January 2024. And oh my, is it so much more important today than it was then—and it blew my mind then.
I’ve mentioned the Marketing Artificial Intelligence Institute a few times, but their weekly podcast is another example of how you can understand our role in AI. Paul and his cohost, Mike Kaput, cover the latest news but from a very human perspective. What does it mean for us? What should we be doing.
We should never underestimate our ability to connect and lead through communications. Now more than ever. But as is the case with a lot of what we’ve lived through, we need some help. Tuning into the voices giving purpose and meaning to how we coexist today, and in the near future, is one of the most productive ways we can humanize and personalize this technology to our audiences.
Communication
Right on cue. Communication is so critical, regardless of where you are in your AI journey. Remember when we were talking about controlling the message? Not saying anything will allow people to fill that void with whatever they want—the good, the bad and the ugly.
It may seem basic, especially to seasoned PR professionals, but AI is worth the reminder that communication should never be assumed. And given the speed at which this is moving, you may be the only one reminding folks of this.
Fortitude
Finally, the main reason we know we’re built for this: our gut instinct. The fortitude we use to do hard things every day.
1) We’re fearless
We didn’t get into this field because we like easy things. Staring down the hard things—winning and losing business, communicating through crises, navigating a fast-evolving industry—takes strength. Don’t back down from the AI headlines simply because they’re overwhelming. PR professionals have always been the flight attendants of the business world. Some turbulence? The passengers look at us to see that we’re still up, serving coffee.
2) We experiment
From social media to email marketing, we’ve gone through this before. (And need to go through it again. Thanks AI.)
For us, the formula remains unchanged. Educate. Collaborate. Activate. But we can’t get to that if we don’t embrace our role in experimenting with these tools first.
3) We’re stubborn
This should speak for itself. Our commitment is to our client or our company. The greater good of the organization is our passion. We’re just too stubborn to let our company down or let ourselves fail. In a way, being stubborn is a perfect fit for where we need to go with AI adoption. Not being stubborn in a way that we won’t use it—but being stubborn in a way that we will learn it, use it and find out how to leverage it simply because we believe our company needs it.
I mentioned at the start that I’ve never contributed an article to Bulldog Reporter. Maybe that’s why I’ve poured so much energy into this piece—because I deeply believe in the power and potential of our profession. As we stand at the intersection of one of the most transformative technologies of our time, consider that communications is the nervous system of any good organization—guiding how we respond, adapt, and thrive.
With the knowledge, tools, and fortitude of our industry, when it comes to leading through change, no one does it better than us.
