Article

Artificial Intelligence: A Strategic Journal of Creative Communications

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Disruption in Public Relations © 2019 MICA-The School of Ideas
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DOI: 10.1177/0973258619866585
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Geetanjali Panda1
Ashwani Kumar Upadhyay1
Komal Khandelwal2

Abstract
This article discusses the concept, benefits, application, impact and role of artificial intelligence (AI) in
public relations (PR) industry. It examines the application of AI-based systems and their role as strategic
disruption in the PR industry. This article is based on qualitative semi-structured interviews of 31 PR
professionals and is grounded in the insights from the review of relevant research papers, articles, and
case studies. It highlights the developments in research and practice related to AI application in the PR
industry. AI-powered systems can scan social media and are smart, intelligent and experts in handling
queries. These AI-enabled systems can post responses on social media in real time for the client and
manage the crisis. With AI, PR professionals can save time spent on mundane activities like creating
media lists, scheduling meetings and sending follow-up emails. Mass personalization and customization
using AI are improving the effectiveness of PR activities. It is too early to say whether AI will act as
strategic disruption in the PR industry. Based on the insights and discussion in this article, the PR
professionals and researchers can make decisions on whether to invest in AI tools and solutions.

Keywords
Artificial intelligence, digital innovation, public relations and strategic disruption

Purpose and Introduction

In the last decade, there have been digital innovations in the fields of marketing communications.
Now, with artificial intelligence (AI), computers and machines can perform tasks that typically required
human intelligence. One such function in the field of marketing communications that is witnessing the
growing application and is at the brink of the AI revolution is public relations (PR). PR, as a function,

1
Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Symbiosis Knowledge Village,
Pune, India.
2
CMS Business School, Jain (Deemed-to-be) University, Gandhi Nagar, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.

Corresponding author:
Ashwani Kumar Upadhyay, PhD, Associate Professor, Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Symbiosis International
(Deemed university), Symbiosis Knowledge Village, Gram: Lavale, Pune 412115, India.
E-mail: ashwani.upadhyay@simc.edu
2 Journal of Creative Communications

ensures that organizations communicate the right message at the right time and in the right place to the
right audience. Organizations are focussing heavily on delivering smart solutions to its stakeholders to
achieve organizational goals. With the adoption and application of AI tools and technologies, organizations
can measure the value of PR efforts and ensure alignment with their business’ overall mission and goals.
In the context of PR, AI has the potential to automate and perform various tasks. These tasks include
writing data-driven stories, organizing and updating media lists, aiding in crisis management, converting
and transcribing audio into text, following and predicting media trends and monitoring and managing
social media.
AI is impacting and transforming our society, commerce and everyday personal life, rendering them
unrecognizable from just a decade ago. Most of the industries are witnessing a significant change in
working and functioning due to the adoption of AI in work processes and systems. The PR industry
comprising numerous small and big agencies is at the verge of undergoing several AI-powered
transformations. Experts think that the PR industry is yet to rediscover itself in the age of AI. Social
media and smartphone technology have created several opportunities and challenges in the context of
data management and usage. AI with its self-learning capabilities offers PR professionals a tool not only
to harness insights from this massive data but also a system to respond autonomously to tweets, queries,
grievances, posts and other messages on the social media. The day-to-day work of PR professionals
includes drafting strategies, designing campaigns, writing and distributing press releases, handling PR
crisis and creating dossiers. Some of these activities are tedious and time-consuming. Dealing and
working with data regularly for multiple clients consume much time of these PR professionals.
The technological development in the last decade has altered aspects of work and relations between
stakeholders within the PR industry. Experts say that the PR industry is witnessing significant changes
due to technological developments in the past few years. AI as a new technology, although still in its
early stages, is grabbing headlines in the mainstream media due to the changes it is bringing in the
functionality, systems, management and workflow processes in the PR industry.
Few of the PR agencies use AI to accomplish some of the daily tasks. Some of the PR tools already
use AI and machine learning to capture and deliver quality information. The AI-powered tools are aiding
in finding, scheduling, managing and reporting on social media content more feasible for PR professionals.
To maintain a positive brand image and a healthy relationship with stakeholders, a PR professional draws
out a specific communication plan and uses direct and indirect media to reach out to the target audience.
PR professionals are also typically involved in analysing, interpreting, understanding and influencing
public opinion about the brand and the company.
In future, AI will do more of mundane work like creating media lists, scheduling meetings, and
sending follow-up emails and, in turn, save the valuable time of PR professionals. With AI, the PR
professionals can use their precious time more creatively for relationship building, strategy development,
trust building and storytelling.
AI by its inherent traits of associated smartness and intelligence helps in adding context, specificity,
relevance and personalization to the necessary process and methods in the PR industry. AI has overcome
significant challenges like the delivery of customized solutions at mass and individual levels. AI also
facilitates the measurement of the effectiveness of the campaigns and helps in overcoming the possible
hindrances or challenges.
This article throws light on the concept and benefits of AI, its related application, impact and future
challenges in the PR industry in the AI-powered age. It helps in assessing the effects of AI in the PR
industry. It tries to explore the possibility of strategic disruption by specialist agencies with AI-powered
solutions of the existing large PR agencies and agency networks. It also explores the potential of AI
assistants in developing smart, engaging and productive work solutions in the PR industry.
Panda et al. 3

Literature Review
Gregory (2004) discussed that the Internet and electronic communication had transformed PR. Rather
than focussing on the current practice, PR professionals need to consider social and relational issues
while understanding a new technology (Kent & Saffer, 2014). AI is attracting attention in the communi-
cation industry (PRs and advertising) as practitioners, and lately, scholars have started recognizing AI’s
productive potential. AI’s rise is leading to concerns related to its impact on jobs. All kinds of organiza-
tions, including their in-house PR teams or PR agency, are increasingly using AI to enhance their capa-
bilities (Galloway & Swiatek, 2018). PR practitioners struggle in dealing with the application of social
media and the Internet on PR practice (Robson & James, 2012). Social media has gained prominence in
the field of PR as a channel for communicating with public and stakeholders and also for nourishing
relationships with them (Verhoeven, Tench, Zerfass, Moreno, & Verčič, 2012). It is essential for PR
professionals to understand how technologies are changing public behaviours for providing ethical and
responsible advice to their organizations. PR professionals should avoid flooding the online environment
with content that is irrelevant for public (Valentini, 2015).
There is a lack of skilled people to deal with the challenges arising due to new media (Tench, Zerfass,
Verhoeven, Vercic, Moreno, & Okay, 2013). Few papers discuss the role, application and AI in the PR
profession. In the past, the studies have focussed on the role and application of information and com-
munication technologies (ICTs) in the PR field. Some of the reviews have discussed the challenges faced
by PR professionals in adapting to emerging digital technologies such as social media (Wigley & Zhang,
2011). The breadth and depth of information available on the Internet and the velocity with which new
data is generated is resulting in newfound challenges. Macnamara, Zerfass, Adi, and Lwin (2018)
concluded that despite the paramount importance attached to digital platforms and social media, PR
practitioners have low to moderate capabilities in new media usage.
Navarro, Moreno, and Al-Sumait, (2017) confirmed that PR professionals decide the content to be
published and activities to be carried out on social media in alignment with their perceptions rather than
stakeholder needs. Research has demonstrated that the use of digital media is important for understand-
ing the expectations of different publics and for improving the effectiveness of communication (Kent &
Saffer, 2014; Moreno, Navarro, Tench, & Zerfass, 2015).
The developments in digital, resulting from hyper-connectivity, rise of smartphones and intercon-
nected devices is changing the life of PR professionals. In today’s environment, some of the core skills
needed for a PR professional include writing, problem-solving, critical thinking and new media skills
(Tench et al., 2013). AI is expected to challenge the foundational concept of PR, including the moral
compass of PR (Tilson, 2017).
Chartered Institute of Public Relations came up with a report suggesting that automation will take
away only a few PR tasks (Valin, 2018). The rise of AI has raised issues like job losses, ethical issues and
machines controlling humans. AI is expected to affect a part of jobs to higher or fewer degrees depending
on the type of work (Chui, Manyika, & Miremadi, 2016). Some of the PR professionals have developed
AI anxiety. AI anxiety is one of the future impacts of AI on PR. AI anxiety refers to the ‘fear of the
stability and the capabilities of AI’ (Johnson & Verdicchio, 2017).
Communication specialists are under pressure to unlearn old manual skills and learn new digital capa-
bilities to survive in the new work environment. Past researches have tried to highlight the importance
of digital skills (Van Deursen & Van Dijk, 2010). AI can free up practitioners’ time, allowing them to
focus on crucial strategic work (Yaxley, 2018). Few studies have investigated the specific digital skills
communication practitioners need to learn in today’s AI era. Good news is that rather than becoming AI
experts, PR practitioners need to use AI to offer PR solutions to clients (Galloway & Swiatek, 2018).
4 Journal of Creative Communications

None of the studies has tried to find out whether PR professionals are prepared and skilled enough to
survive and prosper in the AI-powered environment in the future. None of the papers has investigated
how digital or AI is going to impact the agency–client relationship, and whether AI has the potential to
disrupt the PR industry or not. To communicate with the younger public, older generation PR profession-
als need to acquire digital literacy (Cismaru, Gazzola, Ciochina, & Leovaridis, 2018). Till date, the
AI-enabled task automation has been given prominence in the literature (Galloway & Swiatek, 2018).
Before 2018, not much scholarly material related to AI and PR was developed and discussed at the PR
bodies like Public Relations Academy, but since 2018, the number of conferences focussed on the appli-
cation of AI in PR has increased multifold. Pavlik (2007) briefly discusses AI’s use for monitoring news
media coverage by using natural language processing.
In a review paper published in 2015 which has reviewed the nexus between PR and ICTs, and digital,
social and mobile (DSM) media, over a period of 35 years covering 155 published articles showed that
63 different terms were used in the context of DSM, and the top five by frequency of use are social
media, Twitter, websites, the Internet and web sites in two-thirds (95) of all titles (Verčič, Tkalac, &
Sriramesh, 2015). Interestingly, none of them used AI in the title. The preceding study also supports the
notion that there are not enough published peer-reviewed papers available on the impact of AI applica-
tion in the PR industry. Therefore, the current study aims to explore the benefits, limitations, challenges,
implementation and impact of AI adoption in the PR industry. It also tries to examine the potential of AI
as a strategic disruption and impact of AI on an agency–client relationship.
This study aims to address the following research questions:

RQ1: What is the general perception and attitude of PR professionals towards AI applications?
RQ2: Which applications of AI are meaningful in the PR industry?
RQ3: How is the adoption of AI going to impact the job of PR professionals and client–agency
relationship?
RQ4: Does AI have the potential to be a strategic disruption in the PR industry?

Materials and Methods

This exploratory study uses a qualitative research strategy. Qualitative interviews can be categorized into
three different types: unstructured, semi-structured and structured. In this study, semi-structured inter-
views have been used for collecting qualitative insights from the experts and professionals working in
the PR industry. In a semi-structured interview, the interviewer asks several pre-set but open-ended ques-
tions (Ayres, 2008). In this interviewing method, predetermined questions are asked systematically, and
necessary probes are used to get valuable insights about the issues which the interviewer is studying or
exploring. A pilot study was conducted with 10 respondents to ensure the validity and propriety of ques-
tions. A discussion guide (Annexure I) with open-ended questions was framed and finalized based on the
responses of the pilot study. The time duration for which interview lasted is about 25 minutes. The
recording device was used for capturing the interviews with prior permission and proper annotations.

Participants
The PR professionals working in the PR agencies were recruited for the study by using purposive and
snowball sampling. Marshall et al. (2013) suggested that for the qualitative research based on grounded
theory, a sample size between 20 and 30 interviews, and 30 at times is sufficient. This argument was
Panda et al. 5

further supported by Goulielmos (2004). The assumption of 30 samples is based on the principle of
circularity. This principle suggests that after a certain number of interviews, one starts getting repeated
responses and no new insights are generated. The researcher found that no new ideas were produced after
the twenty-fifth interview, which indicated data saturation in the study. The sample size was limited to
31 respondents for this qualitative research.
In total, 31 PR professionals from entry level (10), mid-level (14) and senior position (7) were inter-
viewed for this study as they are the people who are in a place to comment on the application of AI in the
PR industry. Entry-level PR executives were selected as participants because prior studies like the one
conducted by Lee, Sha, Dozier, and Sargent (2015) suggest that young practitioners are often the ones
performing social media tasks. The millennial generation has the Internet and other technologies at its
disposal, and, therefore, are more comfortable with new technology (Deal, Altman, & Rogelberg, 2010).
Moreover, the young executives are doing a lot of digital courses before joining the job and are more
open to learning new digital skills, including AI-based systems and processes.
The education and experience profile of the participants is further broken down as per the level. At the
senior level, out of the seven participants, two are graduates, four have a postgraduate degree and one
has a postgraduate diploma. The average experience of the participants at senior level is 10.1 years.
At mid-level, out of the 14 participants, 6 are graduates, 6 have a postgraduate degree and 2 have a post-
graduate diploma. The average experience at mid-level is 4.2 years. At entry-level, out of the 10 partici-
pants, 5 are graduates and 5 are having a postgraduate degree. At the entry-level, the average experience
is 1.45 years. For this study, we have defined entry-level PR professionals as having less than three years
total experience, mid-level as having between three and eight years of experience and senior level as
having more than eight years of experience. We have done this classification based on responses related
to classification during the pilot study.

Interview Questions
A recruitment questionnaire was used to judge the suitability of the participant for the study. Thirteen
questions were used to anchor the responses and ranged from their general perception about AI to
particular questions about application and impact of AI adoption on jobs, client–agency relationship and
potential of AI as a strategic disruption.

Procedure
The interviews were recorded with prior permission, transcribed and analysed. Based on Creswell’s
(1998) guidelines for coding of the data, the responses were categorized and coded to understand
patterns in the data. Using inductive approach, the emerging categories were further grouped to identify
themes to capture the central idea of the responses. The transcripts were then summarized on an excel
sheet to identify patterns in the reactions of all the interviewees. Two coders were used to check the inter-
coder reliability of the codes, categories and themes.

Analysis and Results

The following summary has been written and presented using research questions as a base. From the
coded data, the emerging themes are identified and given as follows:

RQ1: What is the general perception and attitude of PR professionals towards AI applications?
6 Journal of Creative Communications

Majority of the PR professionals felt that they are aware of AI and know about the application of AI in
the PR industry in general. They are of the view that AI has impressively taken over so many platforms
in marketing, but specifically in the context of the PR industry, still AI application is in its nascent phase.
In general, PR professionals feel that they are quite acquainted and exposed to the new digital techno-
logy, and they are sceptical about the penetration of AI in the PR industry. From the interview data, it
emerges that the PR industry is slowly taking steps towards the adoption of the latest technology, but
there are specific areas where the need for the AI tools is becoming inevitable.
One of the senior-level PR experts said, ‘I feel, with passing time, the AI and its need will just
increase, and I am looking forward to it’.
A senior-level PR executive said, ‘Many western PR agencies are into full-blown use of AI in their
day to day activity, and have proved that AI generated content is useable without discrepancies and
minimal error’.
Cumulatively, the respondents agree on the need for AI adoption in the PR industry, especially when
it comes to dealing with the mundane task.
One of the PR professionals said, ‘The PR professionals, especially my colleagues in developed coun-
tries, are really into AI, we see how much easier it has made our personal lives, and are surely looking
forward to making our work life simpler as well’.
One of the mid-level PR professionals said, ‘There have been advantages in the PR through digitiza-
tion like the ability to analyse data, churn the data as per your need. Analysing is much easier now with
higher credibility and less consumption of time’.
One of the entry-level PR professionals said: ‘The Indian PR industry has coped pretty well through
digitization, and the whole new age of the internet and I am positive that even with AI, the PR people
will grow and learn’.
One of the mid-level professionals said, ‘Hard to say about AI, but agencies are trying their best to
lead their way up the area of digitisation’.
PR professionals believe that adoption and penetration of new digital technologies lag due to lack of
strategic intent, especially when it comes to technology like AI and its acceptance.

RQ2: Which applications of AI are meaningful in the PR industry?

Experts believe that AI can assist the PR industry in much needed digital transition for its development
in sustaining itself in the digital age. The following applications are useful for building a case for AI
adoption in the PR industry.

Assist PR Managers in Designing Campaigns

With AI, PR managers can take decisions grounded in data and insights. AI can assist managers in
scanning social media and other data points in the fraction of time that humans need to accomplish
the job. AI can help make decisions related to starting of campaign, content, channels, influencers and
targeting.
One of the entry-level PR professionals opined that ‘as a PR professional, who has to deal with
client’s needs and their audience’s needs and demands, content strategy is one input that AI can provide
us to make our lives easier. Giving us a clear picture of demands and possible trending demands can help
us plan better’.
Various social media platforms are using AI to customize and personalize newsfeeds and posts. Major
e-retailers are using AI to send offers to the users based on their browsing behaviours. News and
Panda et al. 7

recommendations are being tailored with AI to suit our past purchases, needs and preferences. AI systems
have also helped PR agencies in creating opportunities for clients regarding earn media.

AI Can Automate Tactical Tasks

Typically, PR professionals spend much time on tactical and repetitive tasks like scheduling, preparing
meeting notes, creating and meeting deadlines and following up with clients as well as influencers.
Menial tasks such as answering mundane emails, checking the calendar and formulating reports
can eat up hours of valuable time. Personal involvement in these tasks leads to delays, errors and
frustration.
One senior PR manager said, ‘The automation itself will be a stir in so many different ways. Automated
update of media lists, scheduling updates of media rounds and numbers, will have a major impact on the
functioning of the PR professional’.
AI assistance leads to automation of mundane and repetitive tasks; PR professionals can spend more
time on strategic and creative activities and be more productive.

AI Can Lead to Current and Relevant Insights

With AI, it is easy to make sense and draw conclusions out of data coming from a variety of sources like
social media, website traffic and other digital touch points. PR professionals can make use of these
insights generated from the data to make informed and active decisions. AI systems can keep messaging
to the point, with ideas based on analysis of Big Data and other relevant trends.
A senior PR professional said, ‘Data crunching, data updating, follow-ups, drafting detailed client
needs and progress are major areas where AI will impact’.
One of the mid-level PR experts said, ‘These AI tools could be very useful in analysing, interpreting
the various forms of communications data that is required to serve the clients with useful insights’.

AI Can Help Identify and Tailor Content for Influencers

Using influencers is common these days, but identifying them and adapting material for building engage-
ment and loyalty is a huge challenge. AI can assist in determining and engaging these influencers and
relevant stakeholders.
One of the senior-level PR experts said, ‘AI enables PR professionals to pitch more effectively to the
relevant influencers and specific journalists. With AI, PR professionals and clients can get the hang of
the overall trends and can select the right influencers, at the right time and on appropriate channels’.

AI Can Create Accurate Personas

With AI, it is easy to know the choices and preferences of the buyers. AI these days is being used to
develop buyer personas and also to create engaging content for these buyers. AI helps to know the
choices, buying patterns, habits, influences, pain points and point of failures. With AI-based personas,
companies can create and deliver targeted messages.
8 Journal of Creative Communications

An entry-level PR professional said, ‘The primary goal of PR is to match the word to the target
audience, and AI systems can decipher the digital DNA and core characteristics of the target group’.
AI systems can create offers and messages to suit the individual client in real time.

AI can be used to Identify and Respond to the Crisis

AI-driven systems can track reactions, sentiments and results. By monitoring and engaging in conversa-
tions, brands can resolve queries and issues of disgruntled stakeholders and avoid any potential negative
buzz or backlash. Negative messages these days spread like wildfire and can result in a full-blown crisis.
With AI-powered machine involved social listening, PR professionals can get timely alerts to deal with
a dilemma. AI-powered devices can even respond with relevant messages to control the negative word
of mouth and avert a full-blown crisis.

AI-Assisted Measurement and Reporting

PR agencies and clients can ensure a precise analysis of the coverage with AI-assisted tools. AI technol-
ogy has helped improve reporting with substantial efficiency as a result of its ability to scan and analyse
the social posts and news articles.
Another expert opined that ‘AI will analyse campaigns in a better way, become more targeted in the
communication and also measure the impact of any campaign. PR people would do better with AI tools
than without it’.
One of the senior PR professionals said, ‘Content filtration, post-campaign analysis, spotting poten-
tial trends could be some major pointers’.

RQ3: How is the adoption of AI going to impact the job of PR professionals and client–agency
relationship?

From the review of articles and the analysis of expert, interviews following current and potential applica-
tions of AI in the PR industry emerged. The adoption of AI in PR range from the content creation to the
automation of repetitive tasks as well as to management of communications in times of crisis, and mea-
surement of results.
A senior-level PR expert said, ‘News tracking, campaign’s productivity analysis, content reliability,
identification of trends can be few of the potential applications’.

Content Creation
AI can facilitate PR agencies and their clients with content creation. AI can scan various data sources and
produce high quality and engaging white papers, case studies, data sheets and posts. Clients or PR agen-
cies can use AI-powered systems like Wordsmith, which is a natural language processing platform.
Wordsmith can create content on financial results for sensitive reporting. These AI-powered programs
can identify the style of the publisher and write stories using relevant financial information quickly and
reliably. Such automated earnings stories first appeared in 2014, and now significant players such as
Dow Jones, Bloomberg, Reuters and Associated Press (AP) have either tried or used AI for financial
Panda et al. 9

journalism. With AI, AP’s coverage of earnings releases has gone up from an average of 300 per quarter
in 2014 to 4,700 in the first quarter of 2018 (Ashwell, 2016).

Automation of Menial and Repetitive Tasks

PR professionals waste much time on mundane daily tasks like updating calendars, scheduling meetings,
preparing meeting agendas, and on follow-ups. PR executives can use the time saved from these day-to-
day activities in conceptualizing campaigns. With AI tools, it is possible to manage and automate several
menial and repetitive tasks.
To quote a PR professional, ‘With the help of AI tools, there can be a huge improvement in work
towards tracking, analysing, and monitoring news, at initial stages’.
AI assistants can manage calendar and schedule meetings. AI assistants can automatically share the
blog post on social channels and save tweets mentioning a particular brand to a spreadsheet. AI can
create efficiencies by connecting to various apps to make smart assistants even smarter.

Manage PR Crisis
Before the dawn of AI, PR teams were monitoring the web and maintaining dossiers, which were tedious
and time-consuming. It was challenging to track negative comments and more challenging to predict the
potential of a single negative feedback that could escalate into a full-blown PR crisis.
A PR professional said, ‘Crisis management should not be going to AI. It’s a sensitive area to give
away to technology. It is too sensitive of an issue for the client to be dealt without any human support or
interventions’.
Another senior PR professional opined, ‘As far as crisis management is concerned, given how sensi-
tive of an issue is, the spotting time and analysis time can be reduced through AI, but again, human
intervention is critical in this case’.
A mid-level PR professional said, ‘I don’t think the clients will be comfortable with AI managing the
crisis. The Indian market is too sensitive for a technological response’.
In the era of AI, things are a lot easier. TensorFlow, Google’s machine learning framework, allows
the clients to predict the social media crisis with 80 to 90 per cent accuracy (Cohen, 2017). With this
knowledge of crisis management, PR agencies can predict and start doing damage control.
There are AI tools like PRISMA Crisis Intelligence that are available in the market for innovative PR
crisis management (ClusterTech, n.d.). These tools monitor conversations on social media and alert the
managers in case of a negative mention. These AI-powered systems can track sentiments hidden within
comments. These systems are even able to process complex texts in multiple languages.
One of the PR professionals said, ‘It can help in post-crisis management and evaluation. As to how
our crisis management campaign worked, where all it lacked and what could have been done for better
and more effective results’.
Another senior-level PR expert said, ‘Crisis management is still a very controversial area in PR. Only
the high-level management gets involved in this, and with experts, because in this area, clients expect
zero negligence and highest results. So I don’t know how AI will help, but they can come with some tools
for predicting a possible failure, that might be helpful. AI first needs to prove its credibility in various
areas before it can be implemented in such sensitive areas’.
A mid-level PR expert said, ‘In crisis management, data crunching and analysis is a major task, so if
that can be done through AI, then nothing like it. Analysis and identification of the target audience can
be one of the areas in crisis management’.
10 Journal of Creative Communications

Managing Agency–Client Relationship

The client–agency relationship is integral for the success of any campaign. The client–agency relation-
ship begins with the appointment of an agency for managing the PR function for the client. The agency
is expected to provide services and meet the communication needs of the client. From the interviews
with PR professionals, it has emerged that the client–agency relationship is primarily based on achieving
transparency, trust, responsiveness, speed, agility and accuracy. Sincerity and honesty are essential for
the success of such a relationship. For a client, it is necessary to disclose all information about the prod-
uct and the organization. The bills and charges must be paid well in time. For maintaining a good rela-
tionship with the agency, the client should approve and monitor the progress on the proposals of the
agency. Managing the timeline and budget for a particular campaign is essential. The most important part
is the real-time measurement and monitoring of the campaign for both the client and agency.
AI, with its unique intelligent capabilities, can assist in managing the client–agency relationship.
AI helps in being transparent in tracking and addressing the problems and issues quickly and painlessly.
AI assists in collaboration between the agency and client with clear lines of communication for open and
controlled sharing of information between both the parties for strategic alignment. AI also helps in align-
ing all teams on the process, timings and critical aspects of project management. AI helps in meeting
deadlines and building an influential team culture for trust, loyalty and openness. AI also assists in
setting and meeting expectations. AI is most useful in conducting regular reviews for identifying issues
or weak spots with qualitative as well as quantitative inputs. AI can also assist in implementing key
action points and for attributing responsibility to team members as well as meeting deadlines.
A mid-level PR expert said, ‘It emerged that agency-client relations will change with the adoption of
AI and will be more efficient, transparent and responsive’.
One of the entry-level PR professionals said, ‘Right now I guess the clients are more interested in
social media, which is completely different from AI as of now. Clients still prefer traditional PR, at least
from the corporate point of view. Social media is a separate area of focus for them’.
Another senior-level PR professional said, ‘Client-agency relation, I feel, is always performance
based. And moreover, the requirement of the client is also a very tricky business. Technology-oriented
clients are actively keeping tabs on such innovations. So before they start to make such demands, we will
have to be one step ahead of them in adopting AI’.
A senior PR expert said, ‘We have come across tools in the west, where the agency has set up a legiti-
mate interface where all the discussions and tasks are put up, and the teams from the agency and the
teams from the clients can log into it to see the progress of results. Such AI tools will provide more
transparency and so much trust. Client-agency relation will mostly become more transparent and
smoother, so yes, that might be one of the plus points’.

Automated Measurement
With AI solutions capturing and visualizing data in the extensive and comprehensive form leads to faster
report-production process. In the absence of precise measurement, clients and agencies both struggle to
prove the impact of PR efforts and investments.
A mid-level PR professional said, ‘AI systems are quickly able to assess the sentiments of social posts
and news articles of clients and their competitors, and even offer recommendations’.
AI-powered analysis from TrendKite offers insights from over 4.7 million publications on the impact
of PR, key message pull-through and sentiment analysis of data that was tedious and time-consuming to
Panda et al. 11

analyse manually (TrendKite, n.d.). AI systems can understand and quantify PR’s full influence on web
traffic to gauze the share of earned media influences. AI-assisted PR attribution gives concrete, quantifi-
able performance metrics that help PR agencies and clients.

AI and Journalism
AI is creating ripples amongst journalists as automatic news writing and distribution of the content,
without human intervention is happening. In 2016, the Norwegian News Agency launched a project to
generate automated football news coverage. AI in journalism is rapidly not only expanding coverage
but also reducing the time duration of the whole process; the Associated Press was able to expand the
number of companies it reported to from 300 to 4,000 using AI to generate reports on corporate earnings
within a limited amount of time (Ashwell, 2018). AI can instantly react to real-time data with the outlines
of a story or any cue given to it. Reuters, one of the largest news providers, has partnered with Graphiq,
a service that uses AI to build and update data visualizations (Reuters, 2016). AI facilitates local and
regional news companies to create compelling content. In future, it is possible that more prominent news
agencies may lose audience share to a few dynamic smaller new agencies that can use AI effectively. In
the era of AI, PR agencies will have to adapt to the new dynamics to respond and meet the needs of the
AI-powered journalism.
When a mid-level PR professional was asked about AI and journalism, he said, ‘Journalist, I feel will
have a more difficult time accepting the AI aspect as they still very, much into the writing and are used
to old school ways of functioning, but clients, on the other hand, I feel will be very proactive and positive
as their work will hopefully be done faster and with minimum human error’.
One of the senior PR professionals felt that ‘Journalist will not accept AI shortly. Journalists have
major issues in trusting the PR professional; trusting an AI tool would be like expecting something
impossible’.
Another PR professional said, ‘The relation between PR and journalists has still been tricky. There are
always fire and ice kind of relations; I don’t think the journalists will ever be mentally ready to give their
work off to the AI’.
A senior PR professional said, ‘Journalists will not be able to trust the content created by AI. Not at
least till the time some major groundbreaking advancement is visible. This is because AI can go wrong
and will only interpret on a data basis. They would prefer a human rather than machine work because of
the credibility and emotional quotient. Hence humans cannot be replaced’.
Based on the responses, it can be concluded that AI professionals are pessimistic about the acceptance
of AI by journalists.

RQ4: Does AI have the potential to be a strategic disruption in the PR industry?

First, let us review what disruption means. As per Christensen, Raynor, and McDonald (2015), ‘Disrup-
tion describes a process whereby a smaller company with fewer resources can successfully challenge
established incumbent businesses. When mainstream customers start adopting the entrants’ offerings in
volume, disruption has occurred’. In this case, for AI to be a disruption, it is necessary that the majority
of the PR agencies and clients are adopting AI for PR processes, functions and solutions.
There was a mixed response to this question during the interviews. Most of the professionals felt that
AI is still in its initial development and application stages in the PR industry. Commenting on AI as a
strategic disruption is still too early. But they are positive about the prospects of a smaller agency
powered with AI disrupting major agencies and networks.
12 Journal of Creative Communications

One of the experts said, ‘There would be a major disruption in content development, crisis communi-
cations and learning the aspect of professionals’.
Another expert said, ‘Every innovation is a disruption and causes a shift, somewhere or other. So will
be AI, but whether it is in a positive or in a negative shift, we may have to wait and watch’.
Overall based on the responses, it can be concluded that AI has the potential to be a strategic disrup-
tion shortly.

Implementation Issues
AI is a strategic driver and change agent in the PR industry. Technology companies like Google, Micro-
soft, Amazon and Apple have integrated AI as an intelligence layer into their products as well as systems.
AI-driven systems are smart and can unlock the power of all the social media and other data. Depending
on the need, the PR agencies can employ AI for various functions like mining social data, managing
media lists and influencer database, to engage influencers, create content, manage crisis, and have a
leading reputation.
One mid-level PR professional said, ‘Costs of implementation will be high, but so will be the value
added as a result of implementation. I don’t think every PR agency will be able to afford it’.
Another professional said, ‘Cost will be high but again, the agency needs, and client profile will
dictate the adoption decision’.
A senior PR expert said, ‘Introduction of anything new in any sector, is costly, but we need to focus
on the bigger picture than just installation charges’.
From the review, it has emerged that agencies and clients should take care of the following implemen-
tation issues while adopting AI-driven systems for successful integration (Marvin, 2018).

• PR agencies should first develop familiarity with the current AI solutions and developments in
the market.
• PR professionals in the agency should familiarize themselves with basic concepts of AI.
• PR agencies should create a digital backbone as a base for AI-driven system.
• PR agencies should be clear about the tasks that the AI system can automate.
• PR agencies should be aware of the available AI capabilities and their influence on the existing
PR services, internal processes and systems.
• PR agency should calculate the potential business and financial impact of the AI system.
• The agency needs to involve the managers and top-level executives in significant AI-related
adoption decisions.
• The PR agency should assess the existing capability of a technology and business process angle
before adopting and implementing an AI system.
• Before going for a full-scale AI implementation effort, the PR agency should try to set up a pilot
project with a consultation with external consultants.
• The agency should clean the existing data. A small amount of current data can be used for training
the new AI system.
• PR agency should arrange for local, fast and optimized storage during AI system design.
• The PR agency should use the AI system for daily and routine tasks.
• The agency should maintain a balance between the AI systems operational efficiency and creative
potential of humans.
• Agency should build flexibility in the new AI-based system for future hardware and software
changes.
Panda et al. 13

• PR agency should focus on training and reskilling the existing employees for making full use of
the new AI-powered systems.
• PR agencies should ensure adherence to the privacy and security norms for handling personal
data as per the law of the land.

Challenges
Finding suitable AI talent with AI compatibility is a massive challenge for PR agencies. It is challenging
to find professionals with advanced programming and analytical skills having PR domain knowledge.
Finding talent with both technical and management skills is a massive challenge in itself. It is difficult
for PR agencies to measure and predict the returns on investment (ROI) in AI. Since the ROI on AI leads
to individual gains in the long run, it is difficult to assess the short-term impact on profitability. Initial
purchase and maintenance of an AI solution at times are expensive and extensive. AI needs sufficient
data to pick up on patterns, to learn from them and optimize the generating system accordingly. Without
the availability of massive data, the ability of AI is limited and is not entirely reliable. Lack of structured
data is a significant challenge in the development and implementation of an AI system. AI also has dif-
ficulty with unstructured data. Structured and organized results of sports games or earnings data can be
easily translated into articles by using AI. Lack of understanding of the state-of-the-art AI systems and
interoperability with various clients are also two of the hindrances.
Verifying the authenticity of data is also a considerable challenge. AI cannot understand whether the
input it received is accurate or inaccurate. If AI gets fake or erroneous data, the corresponding output will
also be false. With AI, publishers can include metadata and references for checking the facts and sources.
A mid-level PR professional said, ‘Most of the PR agencies and their clients are still sceptical about
the reliability and are not able to trust the standalone AI systems’.
With AI attributing and defining copyright and fair use of the content generated may also be a chal-
lenge. AI also potentially poses a new conflict in cases where learning is from artistic works such as
articles, paintings or music having respective rights owners.

Discussion
The new wave of AI technology is predicted to disrupt many essential industries, including PR. PR pro-
fessionals and experts are still in a dilemma with various aspects of AI. Are they faced with several ques-
tions like will AI replace humans in managing press relations? Will AI system create content from
scratch? Will the new technology detect and interact with the best target audiences? How fast can AI
predict PR crisis? How far will AI go regarding customization and maintenance of relations with key
stakeholders? Will the platforms supported by AI have the ability to handle a full-blown crisis? Can the
smaller PR agencies leverage AI to adapt, grow and disrupt the more prominent players?
From the exploratory research, it has emerged that the majority of the PR professionals are aware and
positive about the application of AI in the PR industry in general. In the context of the PR industry, AI
application is still in its nascent phase. Majority of PR professionals personally felt that they are quite
acquainted and comfortable with the new digital technology, and this is in line with the findings of previ-
ous studies. Still, few of the professionals are sceptical about the adoption of AI in the PR industry. From
the results, it emerges that the PR professionals are slowly taking steps towards the adoption of the latest
technology. With AI, PR managers can make decisions based on data and insights. AI has a vital role to
play in all the stages of a PR campaign starting from gathering insights, developing content, selecting
14 Journal of Creative Communications

channels, influencers and distribution of content. AI has an essential role to play in news tracking, cam-
paign analysis, fact checking and identification of trends as important applications. In times of crisis, AI
can help with data crunching and analysis.
Further, AI can help in the analysis and identification of the target audience and make the whole
process of crisis management more efficient, effective and timely. Client–agency relationship will be
positively impacted by AI adoption. AI tools will bring transparency and trust. With AI, client–agency
relationship is expected to be more transparent and smoother. AI-assisted PR measurement gives con-
crete, quantifiable performance metrics, which will help and assist both clients and agencies. It is inter-
esting to note that journalists are not very enthusiastic about the use of AI in their profession. Based on
the responses, it is fair to conclude that AI can be a strategic disruption shortly.

Contribution to Theory and Practice

Research should open directions for theory development and offer guidelines for practitioners. Prior
research has focussed on the application of the Internet, digital, social and mobile in the PR profession
and PR industry. There is a shortage of research in the field of AI application in PR. This exploratory
research opens new directions for scholarly research. There is a gap that this research has attempted to
fulfil by exploring the AI applications and their impact in the PR industry. This research opens up new
dimensions for empirical research related to the application and impact of AI in the PR industry. Till date,
only exploratory research has been done in the field of AI application in the PR industry or profession.
Results from this study demonstrate the benefits associated with AI application in PR. Numerous appli-
cations of AI in the PR field have been discussed in the article.
Further, model development and testing can be done using empirical industry. AI should be used stra-
tegically to meet the goals of PR professionals in maintaining a positive relationship with publics in the
competitive marketplace. This article has also explored the potential of AI as a strategic disruption and
how AI will impact the client–agency relationship in the PR profession and open a new area for research.
Researchers can look at the potential impact of AI adoption in the client–agency relationship. In future,
scholars can further re-evaluate the potential of AI as a potential strategic disruption in the PR industry.
As a contribution to PR practice and industry, this study opens up avenues for PR professionals and
agencies that want to implement AI to meet the client needs. These agencies can expect an increase in
ROI, increased conversions, increased revenues, efficient and quicker reporting and precise measure-
ment. The PR professionals can save time spent on menial tasks and use them on creative conceptualiza-
tions of the campaigns. AI spares the agencies with a lot of time and resources that can be used in
building more creative, innovative and customized PR solutions. This research also discusses the issues
that need to be taken care of during implementation of AI-driven systems for successful integration with
existing systems.
This research highlights the skills needed by existing employees of PR agencies that can be acquired
through learning and development or a broader understanding of AI-based cognitive machines. It is
crucial for employees to realize their potential for up-skilling for the current tasks in the AI age.

Future Scope
Some of the grey areas in the application and adoption of AI and the PR industry are yet to be uncov-
ered. It is expected that new players with innovative technology will come up with solutions that will
create new norms and pathways in the PR industry. These new players with newfound flexibility,
adaptiveness and contextualization can reform the existing PR practices. The rise of AI in the PR
Panda et al. 15

industry is ensuring the reduction of errors, which could be attributed to humans, which in turn
increases the efficiency and effectiveness of the work done. AI systems with algorithms can quickly
analyse massive data and create content. Experts think that humans and AI in the workplace will coex-
ist. The collaboration between humans and AI will lead to smarter, creative and innovative work over
time. Data and human supervision are both relevant for an AI system for learning, adaptation and
efficiency. Finally, to embrace AI’s possibility, it is vital to understand what AI has to offer currently
in the PR industry and how it can be further enhanced for more critical tasks without any substantial
breach of trust and privacy. The healthy symbiosis of human–AI in the PR industry is essential for
both to coexist successfully.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of
this article.

Funding
The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Annexure I
Discussion Guide
Section 1: Introduction
Hello ‘XYZ’
How are you? I am a research scholar pursuing a PhD. I am researching to understand the application of
Artificial Intelligence in Public Relations (PR). Through this research paper, I am trying to find out how
Artificial Intelligence is/might cause shifts in the workplace of PR professionals. I am also exploring the
impact of AI use on the agency-client relationship and whether AI has the potential to act as a strategic
disruption in the PR industry.
Section 2: Life and Experience
In this section, the participant will be asked about their association with the research topic. In particular,
to understand their experience both in quality and quantity in the domain of Artificial Intelligence and
Public Relations.
Key Section Questions
• I am interested in learning about who you are.
• How long have you been in the industry?
• What are some trends you are witnessing in the use of Artificial Intelligence in the PR profession?
• What kinds of projects related to the use of artificial intelligence are you working on right now?
Short-term? Long-term?
• How well do you feel the PR industry, right now, is acquainted with the recent digital technological
advancements like AI?

Section 3: AI and adoption

The goal of this section is to understand the scope of the use of AI in PR according to the participant’s
experience and awareness.
16 Journal of Creative Communications

Key Section Questions

• What are your views on the use of AI in PR?
• Tell us how AI is going to impact the mundane activities like creation of dossiers, media lists in
the PR profession.
• Do you think AI use will simplify the work of a PR professional?
• AI today, has been identified as a powerful tool, how well do you feel it will gel up with the PR
industry’s work processes?
• Tell us about how the client’s requirements are being met in terms of reaching the target audience
in a specific campaign with the help of AI.
• Tell us about the likelihood of AI adoption in the PR industry.
• Tell us about the potential areas where AI is going to impact in the PR industry.
• With AI use at the workplace, tell us about the significant shifts in work profiles that are expected
shortly (e.g., as artificial intelligence is capable of generating content).
• Do you think AI will replace humans entirely in a PR agency?
• Tell us about the potential work areas where AI is going to impact work in a PR agency.
• Tell us in detail how AI is going to impact the roles of PR professionals shortly.
• Tell us how PR professionals are responding to AI adoption in PR agencies.
• Tell us about the challenges that clients and agencies will face in adapting to learning due to the
adoption of AI?
• How open or receptive will the Journalists or clients will be to AI mediated communication?
• How is AI going to impact the agency-client relationship?
• Tell us about the significant challenges like implementation cost and reception during AI adoption.
• Tell us about the role AI will play in managing the PR crisis.
Section 4: Conclusion
1. Do you think that the PR industry is ready for AI adoption?
2. With the west adapting various tools to maintain client relations and ease out on their employees,
do you feel, AI will be able to break through in the Indian PR industry as well?

Before we come to an end to this excellent discussion, do you have anything to ask?
I appreciate your valuable time. Thank you so much.

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Authors’ bio-sketch
Geetanjali Panda is a research scholar at Symbiosis International (Deemed university), Pune, India. She
has completed her postgraduation from Xavier University, Bhubaneswar, majoring in Public Relations
and Advertising. Her research interests include areas such as artificial intelligence, public relations and
communication management.

Ashwani Kumar Upadhyay completed his PhD degree from MNNIT, Allahabad, India. He has more than
17 years of teaching and research experience. He received first prize in the AIMS-GHSIMR Doctoral
Student Paper Competition at IIM, Ahmedabad. He holds a certificate of proficiency in Strategic Manage-
ment awarded by Strategic Management Forum, India.

Komal Khandelwal received her doctorate degree in management. She holds a postgraduate degree in
Commerce (Human Resource Management) from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India. She had
received first prize in the AIMS-IRMA Doctoral Student Paper Competition at MICA, Ahmedabad. She
has 10 years of experience in academics and research.