Does the future of PR work lie in artificial intelligence?

An important part of the fourth industrial revolution

The term robot comes originally from Czech and means something like “artificial human being” or automaton. The first industrial robot dates back to the reactor technology in 1951. Today we are so far that we have taught our robots to act independently.

A trend that will become even more important in the coming years is artificial intelligence in all areas of life. The definition of artificial intelligence is not so easy. Even in humans, no uniform definition of “intelligence” can be found. If you rely on Wikipedia, artificial intelligence is described as an attempt “to recreate human intelligence, i.e. to build or program a computer so that it can independently work on a problem”. But what exactly does that mean?

Algorithm, a well-known term with an unclear definition

Everyone who moves in the digital world regularly comes into contact with algorithms. It is all the more surprising that, according to Heise Verlag, every second EU citizen does not know what an algorithm is and how it works.

At the simplest level, it is the algorithm that allows you, for example, to play chess against the computer. The computer is capable of reacting to the moves made by a player and adapting its strategy.

But even journalists work with artificial intelligence in some areas, which significantly changes the way news is created and made accessible to the reader. Journalists of the Los Angeles Times now use so-called bots, which publish representative journalistic content.

The main goal is to reduce the reaction time to headlines and to personalize the news content, so that the reader only gets news, information and content he is interested in. In order to achieve this, so-called dataminer or juicer are used. The bot analyses the reading habits of the user by searching for recognizable patterns and compiles the personal newsfeed based on this, explains the Staufenbiel Institute.

There are already several providers in Germany, including, for example, Resi, a messenger in chat format. And worldwide, too, artificial intelligence (AI) is being used more and more frequently. In Great Britain, the recommendation service “James” is currently being developed, which analyses reading habits and gives personalised recommendations, and the US media company Bloomberg uses artificial intelligence to track rush and special reports and filter them for relevance. News services such as the Associated Press (AP) or the London Press Association (PA) even have entire articles written by bots.

PR & AI, a glorious future?

However, artificial intelligence has so far been little noticed in PR work and this could become a problem in the long run if more and more editorial departments rely on AI-supported content. What changes and new opportunities will the PR industry and its customers have to adapt to in the coming years?

Always stay up to date!

Technologies are constantly changing and as a modern communications agency you should always keep up with the times and become familiar with new communication possibilities. A fundamental understanding of how AI works, which current technical innovations are on the market and how the advantages of this technology can be integrated into your everyday PR work should be developed.

Make databases more AI-friendly!

Artificial intelligence works on the basis of uniform information formats. All necessary contents, which for example have to be accessed by a bot in order to create articles, have to be stored in a standardized format. It is therefore no longer sufficient for agencies to prepare their content for search engine optimization (SEO), but they must also design their content in such a way that the algorithms of artificial intelligence can access it optimally. In addition, there should be a focus on systematically building and maintaining their own databases so that all relevant information is available in the correct form.

Become and stay experts!

In the future, AI will take on more and more tasks that are still executed by people today. And yet there will be no artificial intelligence in the not-too-distant future that can deal with complex topics and replace interpersonal contacts. People will still play an important role in everyday PR business in the future – but as experts and more specialized, for example as users of AI-supported programs.

The agency’s task is to identify possible areas of application for the AI, to define clear goals and to implement them in the everyday work routine. This makes it possible to integrate the new technology into the existing communication strategy.

What remains to be done

Already today artificial intelligence – whether private or at work – is changing our everyday life. This mindset is supported by a study by the Chartered Institute of Public Relations entitled “Humans still needed”. The study comes to the conclusion that currently approx. 12% of competencies in the PR sector are supported by AI.

Furthermore, all skeptics should be reassured that the study identified 17 (corresponding to 32%) so-called “zero-tech” skills, which are indispensable for PR work. According to “PR-Journal.de”, the true strength of KI lies in the execution of highly specialized and repetitive activities.

Even if AI still has some shortcomings, it is now the right time to deal with the topic of artificial intelligence and its possible applications in PR work. It applies to put thus its fears against the new technology aside, to integrate AI strategically into the daily work and to arrange the technical change actively.