Modern communication practitioners face a critical industry-wide dilemma: How to balance authentic storytelling with the widespread use of AI tools in communications.

According to a white paper, CheatGPT? Generative text AI use in the UK's PR and communications profession by the University of Sussex and Magenta Associates, 80% of communication professionals in the UK regularly use Gen-AI tools, yet only 20% disclose this to their managers. More concerning, less than 15% received proper training on these tools. While this study focuses on the UK, it likely reflects a global trend of inadequate training on the safe and effective application of Gen-AI tools in communications.

Media reports and conversations increasingly highlight concerns about overdependence on these tools as potentially compromising content quality and creativity, while extended use often introduces language errors and inaccurate information through AI hallucination. These issues raise ethical concerns and pose data security and privacy risks for businesses.

A study by Harmonic analysing data leakage trends found that 8.5% of overall Gen-AI prompts contain sensitive data. More alarmingly, 63.8% of ChatGPT users operate on free-to-use subscriptions, with 53.5% of these users including sensitive information in their prompts. 

While the PR industry networks have made some effort to address excessive reliance on AI, growing research indicates the urgent need for stronger guardrails to guide the professional use of these tools.

Business Investment in AI Tools

Even before generative tools became widespread, business leaders recognised AI's potential. In 2019, Forbes reported that 83% of business leaders viewed AI as a strategic priority for improving workplace efficiency.

More recently, McKinsey Digital's report, Superagency in the workplace: Empowering people to unlock AI's full potential, revealed that 92% of companies plan to increase their AI investments over the next three years. However, only 1% of global leaders consider their organisations "mature" in AI implementation, defined as having AI fully integrated into workflows with clear metrics for business outcomes.

The critical question for the communications and PR industry is how to drive AI adoption toward maturity without compromising stakeholder value. 

In accordance with the McKinsey Digital Report, we need to clearly address the prevalent risks of inaccurate information from Gen-AI dependence by implementing robust data governance policies with human oversight. This should be supported by investment in AI skills development for responsible use, risk mitigation and agile workflows. Prioritising the above enables a balanced approach that leverages Gen-AI for efficiency while safeguarding stakeholder interest, data and proprietary information.  

Data from the report further suggests that business leaders want to invest in Gen-AI but grapple with the above issues of safety, with top concerns being cybersecurity, data privacy and accuracy. 

Balancing Innovation With Integrity

As we navigate this rapidly changing landscape, the communications industry must establish a balanced approach that harnesses AI's power while preserving the human elements that make communication effective. 

This requires developing clear organisational policies on AI usage, investing in enterprise-level tools with robust security features and implementing comprehensive training programmes that address technical skills and ethical considerations. Companies like Microsoft have established AI ethics guidelines for ensuring safe and responsible use across the company, while IBM's Watson AI platform provides secure information processing and data analytics with robust security features.

The future of PR lies not in resisting technological advancement but in thoughtfully integrating it into existing practices like media monitoring, data and analytics and ideation for content creation. Communication professionals who leverage AI to enhance, rather than replace, their core competencies of creative storytelling, strategic thinking and relationship-building will thrive in this new era.

Organisations that establish ethical frameworks, transparent AI usage policies and continuous learning environments will gain competitive advantages while maintaining trust and building credibility with their stakeholders. The challenge for PR and Communications professionals is to become AI-fluent without losing their authentic voice. The nuance of strategic insights that are harnessed through years of experience, engagements and relating to media personnel to understand content needs cannot be replaced by Gen-AI. 

In this evolution, the most successful PR practitioners will be those who view AI not as a threat but as a collaborator in crafting powerful stories, allowing them to focus on the uniquely human aspects of communication that build meaningful connections and drive lasting impact.

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*Image courtesy of contributor