I hope you share my concern about one of the key conversations around artificial intelligence (AI), that it will do away with entry-level jobs. Why? Because leaders in our industry aren’t born, they’re shaped by their career. And, without entry-level professionals in any industry, we will ultimately be left without leaders. 

Shaping the next generation of PR leaders

I was inspired to write this by listening to this episode of the BBC’s excellent Radical podcast, where the host Amol Ragan interviewed Dario Amodei, CEO and co-founder of Anthropic, the company behind the AI tool, Claude. At one point, they debate the future of entry-level white-collar jobs in a number of sectors, which reflects recent comments from leading firms about how AI will reduce headcount.

I am concerned that this mindset will impact the PR sector. Firms may be tempted to believe that AI can replace the work humans do, rather than complement it. I don’t have the data on how many currently active PR professionals have PR degrees. In fact, I’ve read the number of universities offering them has fallen dramatically, but many/most of us probably learned PR on the job.

We learned about informing, persuading, surprising and delighting audiences through observing our seniors, attending training sessions, and reading around the topic. We also learned about account management through being exposed at the right pace to the machinations of client servicing until we were ready to be promoted to account manager, then director etc.

AI does remove a lot of the ‘grunt work’ from account execs, but that’s a good thing; perhaps now execs can get the logistical work done a lot quicker now with AI so that they can spend more time learning about leadership, strategic thinking and creative ideation. 

And perhaps they won’t have to pull so many late nights…

Inauthentic comms will not work

The other concern I have is around how some PR agencies appear to be offering fake case studies and spokespeople. As I posted recently, media are increasingly wary of AI-generated press releases and content, and some would rather no AI was used in PR-media communications.

I think this inauthenticity will damage the PR industry, and journalists will increasingly look out for names they trust in their email inbox; we’re back to old-school PR-journalist relationship building.

Upskill your team for the AI age

In brief, as PR absorbs AI into the workflow, it needs to do so with clear intent to improve the quality of the work, rather than focus solely on reducing the bottom line. Without nurturing the next generation of PR pros, getting rid of entry-level roles risks the long-term integrity of businesses and the entire PR industry.

To succeed in the age of AI, PR practitioners of all levels need to know how large language models (LLMs) work and what that means for their clients and their work. It won’t just be the execs who need to do the ‘grunt work’; senior comms pros will need to understand LLMs too.

I am looking to test-run an AI for PR training session that I am launching, covering how LLMs work, implications for content strategy, measurement and more. I’ve been tracking AI in the PR industry since 2018, so if you’re interested in taking part in the test at a reduced rate, please email me.