Each week we’ll gather headlines and tips to keep you current with how generative AI affects PR and the world at large. If you have ideas on how to improve the newsletter, let us know!
What You Should Know
How Communicators are Using AI and What May Change
We know that AI’s influence is expected to grow this year from the constant churn of announcements in the news cycle and all the 2025 prediction pieces (that’s no knock, we wrote one, too). The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior, and a recent survey by WE Communications and the USC Annenberg Center for Public Relations offers some insight into what the future holds for our industry’s AI use.
Unsurprisingly, the report found that the top use case was content creation (54%). This is almost certainly going to be the top use case for the foreseeable future. Data analysis was a not-too-distant second place (40%), followed closely by background research on industries and companies (37%) — two time-consuming tasks that we know generative AI excels at.
At the bottom of the list were measuring PR impact (16%), coverage reporting (20%), and media relations (24%). Some areas, like media relations, are built on human relationships and you can only automate so much of the process. Measuring impact and reporting coverage, however, are two tedious tasks that AI will grow increasingly capable of handling.
A personal audit can help unearth opportunities for better workflows and big payoffs where your AI adoption has been slower. What tasks do you always, sometimes, and never use AI to complete? AI tools — from general platforms like ChatGPT to specialized research tools like Waldo to PR-specific tools that track media mentions and analyze sentiment or reach — will all continue to advance, and they can make your work life easier.
You can even start in ChatGPT by asking how it would tackle certain workflows. Ask it to go step-by-step so you can tailor the workflow to your needs. As AI capabilities expand, look for more ways to advance your career and deliver deeper value.
Elsewhere …
- DHS Launches New AI Playbook for Public Sector
- OpenAI Urges US to Prioritize AI Funding, Regulation to Stay Ahead of China
- McAfee Debunks AI-Generated Misinformation About LA County Wildfires
- Biden Opens Federal Land for AI Data Centers, Sets Rules for Developers
Tips and Tricks
Think about it more
What’s happening: We turn to AI tools when we’re looking to save time, and if their first output doesn’t pass muster, it can be easy to get frustrated and abandon ship. But there’s a good chance that AI can do better with a little handholding.
Try this: If you’re unhappy with an output, ask the AI tool to reflect on what you asked for and the context you offered, then improve on its answer. This extra bit of guidance, while seemingly trivial, often leads to vastly improved responses.
Quote of the Week
“AI is poised to have large effects across our economy, including in health care, transportation, education, and beyond, and it is too important to be offshored”
— President Biden in a statement on his executive order on advancing U.S. leadership in AI infrastructure
How Was This Newsletter?
