ACCESSWIRE and PR Daily have partnered to find out how PR professionals currently think about AI, are they using it, what do they want to apply it to, what are they excited about, and are they concerned about what will happen? We investigated. The result is our latest report. “The future of AI in PR”
The insights in this report will help guide the development of tools and how they can be shared and implemented, both within organizations and the wider world.
Here are some takeaways from the report.
Of the more than 200 survey respondents, 64% had not yet incorporated AI tools into their workstreams, and 36% had. We asked PR professionals what they hope to use AI for in the future and where they think it will bring efficiencies.
71% expect AI to assist with content generation. This statistic is perhaps not surprising given the prevalence and rise of chatbots that can write copy to Flash and image generation tools. The majority of respondents who currently use AI for content generation feel that the work produced by AI tools still requires significant editing. They say this will be improved in the future so that the tool can “tweak social media posts, generate basic surveys, create topics, assist with FAQ documents, and help turn drafts into better content.” I hope you can use it.
- 59% want predictive analytics for PR planning. Conclusions regarding cost-effectiveness, budgeting, and product launches may be more accurate and comprehensive through analysis of large amounts of data.
- 42% want to use AI for automatic media sentiment analysis. Many social listening tools use AI for this purpose, but it can be expensive. In the future, advances in AI may allow organizations to bring this in-house.
- 29% want AI to help maximize their crisis management systems. AI has the potential to more quickly analyze sentiment and develop frameworks and response plans, perhaps in the wake of a year marked by brand backlash and disruption to social media platforms. This priority may also include a content generation perspective. “If a company is facing a minor media crisis, AI could be used to rapidly create crisis-sensitive content,” said one respondent.
- 29% expect to use chatbots more for customer engagement. Although this technology has been around for quite some time, chatbots have not been able to solve or satisfy all customer needs until now. More sophisticated conversational data emerging from new AI tools is poised to ultimately expand the capabilities of automated customer service and interactions.
Ragan and Accesswire's report lists many more concerns and fears of PR professionals, particularly the “loss of the personal touch in communications.” It also includes their thoughts on the current challenges facing technology and what they believe are the contributing factors. Whether it will lead to success or not, he will give an overall outlook on AI.
One thing is for sure: AI is part of the future of PR. “AI will become an integral part of the PR/communications profession in the future,” said one respondent. “Practitioners who don’t adapt will be left behind.”
Read the full report from PR Daily and ACCESSWIRE..
As someone who is heavily involved in PR, I found this article about the role of AI in our field very insightful. The examples provided showcase the diverse applications of AI, from sentiment analysis to media monitoring. It will be interesting to see how AI can streamline workflows and enhance a strategic approach to PR campaigns. We are keen to integrate more AI solutions into our PR strategies to remain competitive in the industry.