Spoiler Alert: The Following Musings Have Been Written By An Actual, Sentient Human Being (yes, Really).

One with over 25 years’ experience in content creation (although it wasn’t called that in the 90s); news ideation (it most definitely wasn’t called that back in the day!); copywriting….and pitching a bloody good story!

The words you’re about to read haven’t been crafted by ChatGPT (other AI Assistants are available) – but why not, we hear you cry? Why waste 30 minutes of precious, unbillable time, wordsmithing our thoughts into a pithy and (hopefully) engaging commentary when a few simple instructions whispered into the willing ear of a chatbot could have produced 750 words of acceptable copy for Linkedin, in less time than it takes any self-respecting PR to pop the kettle (again, another human prerequisite of the job).

So, are some PRs still in belligerent denial of the benefits of AI, refusing to accept its place in the comms profession?

No…of course not. Any PR professional would be crazy to do so – it’s hard to dispute the value of AI in terms of both time and cost efficiencies, generating a quick ‘first draft’ of a press release at the touch of button and an ability to help overcome a bad case of writer’s block. New tools that can free up team time for all the fun stuff such as ‘brainstorming’, strategic planning, getting to know your clients and campaign development are surely to be welcomed into the workplace.

Why not hand the mundane over to a machine and just swoop in at the end to finesse the content and provide that intangible human intelligence to turn ordinary content (that does the job well enough) into outstanding content (that does your client proud).

Sounds like a sensible solution, which is certainly already being adopted across the industry. In fact, a recent Muck Ruck survey suggests that 58% of PRs admit to regularly using AI to help craft basic press releases and 54% in the creation of pitch documents.

But, do journalists see through an AI generated ‘story’ pitch’ that’s perhaps lost the human touch?

As PRs, we’re constantly working with (and always trying to impress) the doyennes of language – journalists. And anecdotally, they’re telling us they can see an AI generated / assisted press release a mile off. Not to mention the inauthenticity and perceived ‘laziness’ of a journo pitch that has clearly been run through ChatGPT (again, other AI Assistants are available) without any fine tuning or tailoring to the writer or publication. It’s quite simply a turn-off.

Pitching is not and never has been a one size fits all – yes, it can be time consuming but one of the fundaments of selling-in a story is to make it personal and pertinent to the writer who you want to write about your product / client / campaign or brand. A ‘spray and pray’ approach rarely yields results.

And whilst generative AI can of course throw up lots of new angles, concepts and buzz words that you might just not have thought of (you’re only human, after all!), a chatbot just won’t allow a brand or charity campaign to ‘get under its skin’ in the same way that a truly invested PR team does – living and breathing its clients key messages, appreciating the nuances of its core positioning and everything it stands for.

It should be second nature for a good PR to swiftly craft a comment on behalf of a client (whether a KOL, CEO of a charity or Senior Brand Manager) as though the words were spilling out of their own mouths – and without needing to rely on AI to do the legwork (and, let’s be honest, running the risk of getting it wrong – either the facts or tone of voice – particularly in a crisis comms situation).

Can you risk using AI when working with subject of a sensitive nature?

As an agency that works with and represents charities that support and advocate for those affected by life-changing events (including rare cancers, neurodiversity, humanitarian crises and young sudden cardiac death), the jury’s out on this one. Again, cost and time efficiencies when working with n-f-p organisations cannot be ignored and there are clear benefits in being able to quickly churn out and deliver content, quotes, articles, digital copy in line with brand messaging and which still pack a punch in a busy space of worthy causes and campaigns.

But what creates standout – and elicits empathy and a response that can really move the dial in a debate – is authentic storytelling and real-life experience. And this requires careful, 1-2-1 interviewing of case studies and considered writing up of testimonials and supportive quotes (which often ‘carry’ the story and can convert a press release into meaningful editorial across myriad platforms). Can a computer do that without risking a clunky, insensitive (or overly gushy) use of language, when dealing with issues that require handling with utmost care?

A recent, rushed release – pushed through AI for a charity client – resulted in the wrong post-nominals for its esteemed founder and Chair (unforgivable!) – and, even worse, a totally inaccurate analysis that the charity was established after the “tragic death of her son’” (no idea where that came from).  Thankfully, we know the charity well, the error was instantly picked up / corrected and not forwarded any further. No harm done…but a cautionary tale when using generative AI for copywriting in the charity sector.  And in many situations, it would certainly feel prudent and appropriate to advise a client that you are using AI to create content for them (if they haven’t already noticed!)

So, in essence, AI undoubtedly has a place in PR. By streamlining research processes, formatting proposals, positioning papers and redacting 100s of pages of medical papers into a user-friendly document, AI allows more time for that unique human creativity and insight that the PR industry thrives on.

(and, I’m sure if instructed to, ChatGPT would have kept this article to the desired length and not overrun by 250 words!)