The PR professionals of the future must evolve to be many things, but one of the most important skills they must embrace is to – Ask Better Questions. Why? Because the human who uses AI the best is the one who can ask the best questions. Many businesses will be disrupted and reshaped by AI and PR is most likely to be on that list. PR professionals who can become adept at prompting a better response will be at a huge advantage. A ‘better’ human will get better results from AI.
Being human and my identity as a human – what will that mean and look like in a few years when AI has touched (or tainted) everything? By extension what will the future PR professional need to prepare to embrace and brace for the change that is coming?
The ‘fastfoodisation’ of content is already here. It’s fun, it’s tasty, it’s new and everybody is trying it out. It will change the content and communication world like fast food has changed our diets, our bodies, and our minds. Much money will be made by many as they capitalise on this new ability to feed the bottomless appetite for all the ways AI can make our lives faster, more convenient, fun, and easier. All the things that the world of fast food promised us not so long ago.
I can do incredible things already with the help of AI. I can create content at the speed of light. Rework, reword, SEO optimise, generate pictures, creatives, and videos, and splice and dice them all together on my own. I don’t need a whole team of content experts and post-production pros to support me, all these tools are now at my fingertips. I feel as excited as the proverbial kid in a candy store. It feels too good to be true.
Will AI make PR and communications better is left to be seen? I sincerely hope it will. I do however worry that in years to come we will be fighting the equivalent of the (content) obesity battle at one end of the spectrum, while feeding the hungry will remain a challenge at the other. A fresh handmade meal today has become a luxury. Fresh organic food will be for the privileged few. By extrapolation, the same could happen to our industry.
So, what does the PR professional of the future need to do? Go all in and embrace AI and be a big player there or go the other way and go for the handmade organic content? The human being who can still ideate, write, imagine, and create something that is not touched or tainted by AI is likely to be a much sought-after one in the not-too-distant future. (Think small batch handmade content rather than machine made and mass produced and processed).
The human being who can use AI most smartly by asking the right questions will be in demand too. As I often keep reminding myself, there are new rules and new tools, but the game of getting and keeping attention to build reputation remains the same. The commoditisation of content and mass markets will have its place and the high-end luxury content market to build and protect reputation will also exist. Whether you use AI to create content or if you choose to go old school and do it by hand, the key will be to understand the context in which that communication will land. This is why the true power will be in the hands of those who know the right questions to ask.