Arwa Husain is the Director at Adfactors PR
If you’re not updated, you are outdated
During the past few weeks, my reading has changed from consuming only news and geopolitics to what’s happening in the AI world and new technology related to our PR craft. Why? Because there is an increasing volume of conversation on the above topics on my LinkedIn feed. I have been reading global experts waxing eloquent on AI and its implications – disruption and opportunities in the coming months.
I couldn’t help but compare this heightened chatter to our industry. For the better part of the last two decades, PR has operated within a relatively predictable ecosystem. We understood who/what shaped narratives, how influence travelled and where stakeholders went to seek information. Today, each of those assumptions are being simultaneously challenged.
Given the ever-increasing usage of ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity, information is increasingly being discovered through AI interfaces rather than traditional search. The newly minted acronym ‘GEO’ is being explored and tested for the scale it can provide to marketeers vis-à-vis the erstwhile SEO. The focus is no longer on content but rather on how it is being discovered. There is just so much that is happening out there and at such an astonishing speed that if an individual doesn’t keep oneself updated and keep learning, one stands the risk of being outdated and obsolete.
So, the question is: What’s the future of PR professionals? I think as a practitioner, an individual ought to redefine one’s role. Therefore, start challenging long-held assumptions, embrace new realities, enhance skillsets in reading data, and test new AI tools – not only for gaining personal skills but also for building and safeguarding reputation using the same newly acquired skills. If you do all of the above, you will be in sync with the new AI-driven world order.