Communications in the AI era: What lies ahead!

Authored by: Akanksha Jain, Head- Public Relations & Corporate Communications, BharatPe

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming our daily lives and professional endeavours, including the realm of public relations (PR) and communications.  Infact, AI has already made inroads into the world of Communications- it is streamlining various tasks, such as media tracking, research for content creation, and social media monitoring. AI is taking up a number of  tasks and also emerging as an important lever for real-time sentiment analysis and showing impact. While there are a number of positives of using AI, for a specialized function like Public Relations, it is the human element that remains a key pillar for ensuring effective reputation building and safeguarding.

Let’s deep-dive on some of the merits of using AI:

• Increased efficiency and productivity by automation of rudimentary tasks: PR and Communications professionals can employ AI by automating many of the time-consuming tasks involved in PR work, such as data entry, social media scheduling, and media monitoring. This frees up their time to focus on more strategic work, such as developing and executing PR and Communication campaigns, building relationships with diverse set of stakeholders including media, government officials, representatives at industry associations etc., craft compelling narratives, devise a robust content strategy that encompasses owned and social media, as well as focus on more strategic reputation building initiatives

• Improved insights and decision-making: AI can be used to analyze large amounts of data to identify trends, patterns, and insights that can help PR professionals make better decisions about their campaigns and communications. For example, AI can be used to identify the most influential journalists and bloggers to target, or to measure the effectiveness of PR campaigns.

Enhanced creativity and innovation: AI can be used to generate ideas, brainstorm concepts, and create content. While AI is not yet capable of producing creative content on par with humans, it can be a valuable tool for sparking creativity and generating new ideas.

• First-level research: AI can help do first-level research and basic content creation for internal usage. However, it cannot ensure authentic content creation, in line with the brand’s overall messaging. Additionally, it is difficult to have a quick view of the source of a lot of data that AI will pull up.

• Crisis Management: AI can play a key role in predicting possible crisis scenarios, by understanding triggers and trends. This can aid the Communication professionals to be better prepared with strategy and response framework.

Communication Professionals will continue to play an important role in the AI era

As the threat of AI looms large, Communications professionals don’t have much to worry- the reason being that their work is highly specialized in nature. Communication professionals will always have an edge due to a variety of reasons- one of the key being the need for human connect and building relationships, for ensuring right communication with key external stakeholders.

Additionally, keeping in mind the cultural nuances and varied preferences of the variety of external stakeholders of an organization, Communication professionals are best equipped to define narratives and ensure that communication campaigns are well-aligned to the overall messaging of a brand, and customized to cater to the relevant audience.

In an era where brands are continuously trying to create differentiated content so as to get their customer’s attention, churning out compelling stories and sharing authentic content is the key for building the reputation of brands. Communication professionals will continue to play an integral role in defining a differentiated content strategy, and ensuring that the content is in sync with the overall brand narrative. Also, for building engaged communities amongst customers, there will be a need to consistently create engaging content that resonates with the audience. This is key to building trust amongst stakeholders.

Today, there are a number of media houses who have clearly called out that they won’t accept content that is AI -generated. Authentic content becomes even more important when one is leading  a thought leadership campaign. Communication and PR professionals are key to drafting compelling and real content that is accurate, and in line with impact narrative. With customers looking to associate with purpose-driven brands that are just not there to sell their products, it becomes important for Communication and PR Professionals to focus a lot more on impactful storytelling- that is unique and relatable.

Way Forward

To conclude, technology and AI will continue to redefine the ways of working for the Communications and PR professionals. It is advisable that the Communication professionals take advantage of the opportunities offered by AI so as to be better equipped to deliver results. It is advisable that Communication professionals invest more time to understand how to use the new-age technologies better, and learn how to integrate AI into their daily workflows.

By leveraging AI, they can cut down on time invested in mundane tasks and basic research and invest a lot more in strategic work. Also, technology can help them stay ahead of the game in times of crisis- as one can anticipate some of the possible scenarios by leveraging AI.

However, Communication professionals will continue to have an edge, keeping in mind the importance of building relationships with the relevant stakeholders and creating authentic content. Also, humans will have an edge due to emotional intelligence and understanding of  cultural sensitivities. Communication professionals will drive strategies to build and safeguard reputation- and in turn, build a trusted brand.