Communications professionals still hesitant about using AI - but majority sees opportunities

297 PR professionals and executives from Switzerland and Germany took part in the survey conducted by Dpa subsidiary News Aktuell and Per. According to the survey, artificial intelligence is not yet being used extensively in the communications industry: 41 percent of the communications managers surveyed are not yet working with AI. However, there are significant differences between PR agencies and media outlets: While every:r second respondent from companies has not yet made use of AI (47 percent), the figure for agencies is only one in three (33 percent). Overall, however, it should be noted that 59 percent of respondents are already using AI in their communications.

Those who already rely on AI in communication use it primarily for writing texts: one in three respondents is supported by an AI when writing (32 percent). One in five respondents also uses AI to find out about new trends and research relevant topics (22 percent). AI is used almost as frequently for media monitoring (20 percent). Agencies are already using AI much more frequently than media outlets, especially for copywriting: only 25 percent of media outlets have AI write their copy, while 42 percent of agencies already use ChatGPT and the like.

AI is rather rarely used for verifying information or for image recognition: Only 7 percent of respondents verify content for correctness using AI. They just as rarely use AI to identify and categorize image content. Artificial intelligence is hardly used at all in the areas of reputation management (3 percent), influencer marketing (3 percent), video production (3 percent) and crisis prevention or crisis management (2 percent).

Don't worry: Opportunities outweigh risks

Even though 41 percent of those surveyed have so far refrained from using artificial intelligence, the majority view it positively for professional communication. 66 percent of respondents see AI predominantly or rather as an opportunity in this respect. Only 13 percent see it as a risk, while 17 percent have a neutral attitude toward AI. Skepticism about the use of AI in communication increases with age: While 87 percent of those under 35 see the opportunities in AI as predominant, only 57 percent of those over 55 have a positive view of AI.

Advantages and disadvantages of AI in PR

The respondents see the greatest benefit of AI in the fact that they gain more time for demanding activities such as strategy, conception and creation (63 percent). In addition, a clear majority expects AI to speed up work processes and thus save resources (60 percent). Just under half believe that AI will produce better-quality media analyses (48 percent), and one in three think that target groups can be addressed more efficiently thanks to AI (33 percent). The respondents also rate the rapid provision of expert knowledge as an advantage (32 percent).

According to communications professionals, the greatest danger in the use of AI is blind "AI faith": 67 percent fear that critical questioning will be unlearned. In second place among the risks is the question of authorship: 60 percent complain that the copyright for AI-generated texts is not clearly regulated. A good one in two respondents also criticize a dependence on the quality of AI (56 percent), are concerned about ethical challenges (56 percent) and see the risk of information distortion through the use of AI (55 percent).

The results at a glance

Areas of application of AI in PR

• We do not use AI yet 41%
• Text creation 32%
• Theme and trend identification 22%
• Media Monitoring 20%
• Content tagging 13%
• Competitive analysis 11%
• Image production (symbol images) 10%
• Success analysis and evaluation 10%
• Target group analysis 8%
• Information verification 7%
• Image recognition 7%
• Video Production 3%
• Reputation Management 3%
• Influencer Marketing 3%
• Crisis prevention and crisis management 2%

Evaluation of AI within one's own work

• Predominantly as an opportunity 23%
• Rather than opportunity 43%
• Neither 17%
• Rather than risk 10%
• Predominantly as risk 3%
• Do not know 3%
• Not specified 1%

Advantages of using AI in communications work

• More time for demanding activities (e.g. strategy, conception, creation) 63%
• Resource saving 60%
• Better media analysis 48%
• More efficient targeting 33%
• AI provides expert knowledge that I could never acquire at the speed 32%
• More personalized communication 29%
• Better risk management and crisis management 23%
• Higher competitiveness 23%
• Better reputation management 16%
• Fewer sources of error 9%
• No advantages 2%

Disadvantages of using AI in communications work

• Critical questioning is unlearned through 'AI faith' 67%
• Lack of clarity on copyright issues for AI-generated text 60%
• Dependence on the quality of the AI 56%
• Ethical challenges (transparency, privacy, authenticity) 56%
• Information distortion 55%
• Application error with AI use 54%
• Privacy violations 43%
• Lack of controllability of AI tools 42%
• Employee uncertainty 38%
• Loss of competence due to outsourcing into the hands of AI 37%
• Reduction of jobs 28%
• No cons 0%

Within the framework of the "PR Trend Monitor" by News aktuell and Per, an online survey was conducted in February 2023 among 297 communications professionals from companies, organizations and PR agencies in Switzerland and Germany.