Originally posted in New Age on 2 November 2024
WE ARE in an era where artificial intelligence is reshaping the way industries around the world operate their business. Among all the sectors, public relations is finding itself at a crucial juncture between technology and human connection. Artificial intelligence is changing the way we think about public relations. In public relations, the ultimate goal has always been delivering the right message to right stakeholders at the right time. But the digital era has changed the landscape dramatically.
There is no denying that artificial intelligence can help in tasks more swiftly than ever before — for instance, analysing data and managing social media. But it also brings significant drawbacks on the table such as the rise of fake news and misleading information. As the problems are more used, it is crucial to build trust with the audience by focusing on being genuine, consistent and purposeful in communication.
The public relations market size has grown significantly in recent years. The market size of this sector will be, as the Public Relations Global Market Report 2024 show, $144.28 billion by 2028 while it is $114.1 billion in 2024 and was $106.93 billion in 2023.
The public relations industry is evolving quickly in regard to the latest technologies. The era of relying solely on print newspapers and traditional storytelling to get engaged with the audience is a thing of the past now. The industry now runs through various channels such as social media, events and influencer marketing. The changes manifest a big leap towards digital communication. These days, public relations professionals and organisations prioritise the authenticity and transparency of the messages to get engaged with the targeted people. Trends sujch as embracing diversity, equity and inclusion are also becoming important issues as well, encouraging public relations professionals to create messages.
Need for Quick Action: Challenges and Solutions
Economic challenges, such as inflation and global conflicts, make the PR landscape even more perplexing. In order to stay relevant, professional organizations must use data to guide their decisions and work together across departments. It is crucial for PR practitioners to adapt to the latest technologies. However, despite these technological advancements, the human touch in crafting compelling and authentic messages becomes more important than ever before.
Impact of social media
THE addition of social media to the public relations industry has transformed the way. Nowadays, even many journalists rely on social media to get news updates which shows how important the platforms are for information. This change has allowed professionals to connect with their audience more effectively. Advanced artificial intelligence systems can analyse metadata of social media to measure public sentiment, identify potential problems and crises and find emerging trends in public narratives that could have a bigger impact. In addition, measuring the success in public relations has also changed; people of different groups focus on different metrics. While journalists and non-governmental organisations may look at readership, the private sector often prioritises revenue as the primary goal. Moreover, the technological revolution goes far beyond automation.
Change for growth
IT IS time for organisations to embrace and adapt to modern public relations practices. Organisations can engage their stakeholders and improve their recognition by adapting to digital changes and prioritising strategies. Effective public relations is not only a regular office activity, but it is also essential for survival. Organisations willing to make a change are likely to find more opportunities in the future of public relations, by ensuring that they stay relevant.
We need to understand that embracing artificial intelligence in public relations is not a replacement but, rather, a tool. Artificial intelligence has the potential to perform many tasks in public relations and communication but it cannot supplant humans. The key to success will always lie in a deep understanding of the target demographics, creativity and the ability to build relationships based on trust. Artificial intelligence has become an integral part of the sector and rather than seeing artificial intelligence as a threat, we should embrace it as a tool.
S M Khalid is a dialogue associate at the Centre for Policy Dialogue.