AI and PR
31st July 2024 by Rachael Bruce
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing the landscape of Public Relations (PR), reshaping how organizations communicate and engage with their audiences. By leveraging advanced technologies such as machine learning, natural language processing, and data analytics, AI empowers PR professionals to craft more targeted, personalized, and effective communication strategies. From automating routine tasks like media monitoring and social media management to providing deep insights into audience behavior and sentiment analysis, AI enhances the efficiency and impact of PR campaigns. This integration not only helps in delivering timely and relevant content but also in predicting trends and crises, allowing for proactive reputation management. As AI continues to evolve, it promises to unlock new possibilities for innovation, creativity, and strategic thinking in the realm of Public Relations.
That first section was written using ChatGPT, perhaps one of the best-known AI brands. At Active PR we pride ourselves in our writing ability and so ordinarily don’t use AI in our copywriting. The above was an experiment as part of writing this blog.
But using AI does have its benefits as it can streamline the process for some tasks such as analysing data to find patterns. AI and automation are used by many media monitoring services to track and collate coverage including analysing sentiment in coverage and with machine learning help ensure consistent reporting.
However, there’s room for error and a need for human oversight as AI doesn’t always recognise some of the nuances in language. For example, a sarcastic negative comment on social media could be flagged as positive feedback.
In content creation, there’s a place for AI but there’s also a need for human input to ensure accuracy, authenticity and the tone are all on brand and appropriate for both the medium and audience.
It’s important to remember that AI is only as good as the people using it. Just as a new member of staff will need to be instructed to carry out tasks, AI needs to be briefed too and their work reviewed and signed off.
ChatGPT is perhaps one of the best-known AI brands, but there are so many others available with different functionalities.
In one of its simplest forms, AI can be used to autocomplete sentences, which can help save time, particularly if you’re often writing about the same subject as AI will learn key phrases. (Microsoft Word wanted to use automate in this instance 😉)
Speech to text technology such as Otter AI can mean you don’t need to take notes during meetings or interviews. But it also means when you’re reading back through the notes, you’ll have a record of those informal conversations that take place while you’re waiting for everyone to join the call. Some of which you perhaps won’t want a permanent record of!
The search function is a great tool as it means you can easily look for and find a key topic or action point.
It’s always good to have the backup of your own notes – in a good old-fashioned notebook or on a laptop or tablet so you can cross reference and potentially correct any inaccuracies on either side.
AI is a tool that can make tasks easier. Some of our team remember the days when press packs had to be mailed or couriered to journalists. Today we can easily reach out to our media contacts, sending them a WhatsApp, DM or email with client news and photos.
It’s about embracing change and new technology and learning to work smarter not harder.
If you want to know more about how we can help your business, email beinspired@activepr.co.uk.
