Striking the balance: What is AI’s role in tech PR?

This week has seen the return of the global AI summit, an event that only came to existence a couple years ago. Last year’s summit in Seoul saw “six (very long) agreements” signed. Despite the agreements being labelled “toothless”, the collective ambition was the foundation for future action. But what a difference less than a year can make. 

Now renamed the AI Action – as opposed to the original AI Safety – Summit for Paris this year, action is being thwarted on the counts of safety measures. Despite almost all countries signing on the dotted line, the UK and US have rejected the summit declaration on the wording of “inclusive and sustainable” AI – is this not what we are striving for?  

The counterargument is that overregulation will stall innovation. But it also signifies the undercurrents of a shifting political era, with protectionism, profits and profligacy the cards being placed on the table. 

On a smaller scale, the question of governance is running rife too, with companies working out how best to integrate AI, or not, into their processes. The latest news reveals law firms are both embracing and restricting AI access. 

So, when it comes to using AI for PR and creative purposes, how does AI best serve the cause? 

Making us dumb vs. making us smarter?

When you rely on AI-generated content, how do you know it’s the best it can be if you’re editing what’s already there? You can’t get bread again if it’s already been toasted. 

We could be slipping into a ‘if it’s good enough’ rather than a ‘if it’s the best it can be’ mantra. For certain tasks, that may be okay, but there could be an overall deterioration in skills. That’s why this week TechCrunch posed the question: is AI making us dumb? 

Without experience of performing tasks ‘pre-AI’, a whole generation of professionals won’t have the know-how of “creating, evaluating and analyzing information”. If we become too dependent on the tools, we lose the skills ourselves when the tech fails – something I labelled as ‘tech vision’. 

On the contrary, emerging professionals will have the inherent skills to maximise AI’s value as the tools become increasingly sophisticated. Research and insights will be at their fingertips. And they will have the potential to perform better and smarter. 

Is it about making the processes we already do more informed without using it to replace the skills altogether? Using AI to aid research and produce data insights, for example, but still writing high-level copy yourself. In the right areas, AI can deliver groundbreaking advances. Perhaps the greatest difference now is between AI as an analyst and AI as a creator. 

What usually transpires is a symbiosis between the old and the new: tasks are taken over by tech but they level out as people learn how best to use them alongside traditional skills.

A(I) double-edged sword for B2B tech PR?

The B2B tech PR world is in an interesting position, increasingly full of paradoxes. Tech PR agencies naturally work to amplify AI brands and services to other businesses; but the means to carry out this process depends on human content, creativity and relationships; in turn, AI is being used increasingly to do this; yet amidst a swamp of AI-generated content, human authenticity stands out. And so on. 

Like it or not, AI is now a prominent and ever more permanent feature in our world. But despite sharp-shifting trends and some summit resistance, tailored governance is what enables its most effective, sustainable and beneficial use. We haven’t even touched on data privacy, copyright and similar concerns, imperative for its safe development. 

For tech PRs, it’s the line between using AI to enhance processes but being aware of its innate limitations. The balance between innovation and dependency, critical thinking and idea generation, quality and efficiency. 

AI is a whole new kettle of tech. Discerning how much to use it alongside human skills – when also promoting the technology itself – is the challenge ahead.