There is a lot of hype about generative artificial intelligence (AI) and its capabilities. Not all of it is entirely justified—but there are clearly areas where generative AI is already revolutionising how we work. One of those areas is public relations (PR) and media management.
This probably shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who has experimented with tools like ChatGPT. These large language models are very good at writing text that fits standard criteria, especially if you give them a set of broad bullet points. A brief browse through the ‘media’ pages of many websites will clearly show that press releases very much fit that description. However, are there more interesting ways in which generative AI is changing PR processes?
Exploring the territory
George Wright is the founder and managing director of Spartan PR, based in Cheltenham. Spartan is a communications agency focused firmly on the technology and financial technology sectors. Its website and George’s own LinkedIn page make clear that he is a fan of the creative, story-based approach to PR. However, he recognises that generative AI will have a huge impact on his field.
“As in so many fields, generative AI and LLMs have potential to take much of the ‘grunt work’ out of PR. AI tools can already monitor and analyse media coverage in real time. We’ll be able to gather immediate information about public and media reactions to press releases and stories, and also identify trends. In the past, we’ve often seen that social media algorithms picked up trending stories faster than many of the major news sites. Being able to harness algorithms of that kind can only help in PR. We’ll also be able to see what strategies are working, and immediately tweak those that aren’t to make them more effective.”
However, it is in relationship building and personalisation that he sees AI having the biggest impact. This is similar to the effect in many other sectors.
“I expect AI tools to be able to help us personalise pitches and content to journalists or publications to catch their interest most effectively. I can also see it having potential to do some A/B testing on pitches to see which ones are most likely to be effective. We’ll be able to match projects to the right journalists and publications, which will save a lot of time and effort. And not just that: when journalists always find your content interesting and useful, they are far more likely to read your emails and then engage. It builds stronger relationships over time, and that’s good for agencies, clients and media outlets.”
Improving crisis management
What about crisis management, an obvious concern for every PR professional? George believes that there, too, AI may be able to help.
“We have had tools that can monitor media outlets, including social media, for some time. These can alert us to negative coverage or emerging stories, helping to speed up the response. We’ll also be able to use AI to generate crisis response communications, again speeding up the response, and hopefully making it more effective.”
It may be useful to consider using AI-generated content in scenario planning. AI-based tools can simulate crisis scenarios to support planning, including showing their potential impact on brand reputation. It is impossible to plan for everything, but this should help PR teams to feel more prepared, and also engage senior managers in how to respond appropriately. However, there is a caveat:
“Obviously in all of this, you’ll want a human to check that the tone is right. I think that will be key to using AI more generally in PR processes—it will be a matter of partnership and speeding things up, not AI taking over. Trust is so important in PR, and you absolutely can’t afford to risk that.”
Working with George
It therefore seems clear that generative AI has potential to change how we approach PR processes, both routinely and during crisis situations. The only question is how much and how fast, and that’s where experts like George Wright are so important. Over the next year or so, George will be bringing his PR expertise to bear on several of our projects, acting as media adviser. He will also be the guest speaker at our Zoom roundtables on media management, including on the role of generative AI.