1、A STUDY BYTHE STATE OF AI IN PR2023MethodologyWe surveyed 1,034 PR professionals from March 31 to April 25,2023.The goal of this survey is to to deliver insights to the PR industry to help improve the workflow of public relations professionals,particularly around the rapidly expanding field of gener

2、ative artificial intelligence.Muck Rack distributed the survey primarily through email.Muck Rack cleaned the data in a variety of ways.First,we only counted complete responses.We also removed low effort responses where the respondent completed the survey in less than five minutes.Finally,we removed

3、any duplicate entries,responses that were generated by spam accounts and checked the data for major outliers.The conservative margin of error for the survey is about 6%.Executive Summary 61%of public relations professionals currently use AI or are interested in using AI in their workflow.Only a smal

4、l portion of them,15%,say they have no interest.38%of PR professionals already using AI in their workflow are in the C-suite,a higher percent than employees at other levels of the company.Crafting pitches,writing press releases and writing social copy are the top three ways that PR pros currently us

5、e AI.Employees at companies with fewer than 500 employees are more likely to already be using AI than those at larger companies.The biggest concern PR pros have about AI is that the output will be used without first scrutinizing it and therefore lower the quality of conversations in the field.An ove

6、rview of PR pros using AI1Which skills will your company need to focus on in the next 5 years to be successful(select up to 4)?0%20%40%60%80%100%Media relationsStrategic planningData and analyticsSocial mediaInfluencer marketingLeadershipWritten communicationsVerbal communicationsOtherCrisis managem

7、entResearchBusiness literacyIntegrating new AI tools into workflowDiversity,equity and inclusionMultimedia(video and design)47%46%38%31%30%30%30%29%20%17%16%16%11%6%1%AI is one of the top five skills companies need to focus on in the next five yearsC-suite employees mention AI in 41%of responses,muc

8、h higher than manager and coordinator level employees who chose it 29%of the time.Do you plan to explore generative AI,like ChatGPT or DALL-E,in your workflow?Im not sureI already use themI plan to explore themNo,I do not plan to explore them0%20%40%60%80%100%28%33%24%15%Only 15%of respondents say t

9、hey arent planning to use generative AIAbout 61%of PR pros say they currently use generative AI or plan to explore it.BrandAgency29%29%32%33%23%23%16%14%Do you plan to explore generative AI,like ChatGPT or DALL-E,in your workflow?Im not sureI already use themI plan to explore themNo,I do not plan to

10、 explore themPR pros at agencies and brands have similar outlooks on AIThere is no significant difference between AI usage at brands compared to agencies,although they do differ in how they use it.AI use at different company levelsManagerDirectorC-suiteCoordinator0%20%40%60%80%100%29%38%27%25%Employ

11、ees at higher levels are more likely to already use AIPeople in the C-suite are most likely to be using AI tools already.Directors are using AI at almost the same levels,but managers and coordinators are signifi-cantly less likely to be using them.Share of employees who use AI by company size149 emp

12、loyees50+employees0%20%40%50%30%10%31%26%Employees at smaller companies are more likely to already use AIThis trend holds for much larger companies as well.Only about 19%of respondents who say they already use AI work at companies with more than 500 employees compared to 31%of respondents at compani

13、es with fewer employees.How PR pros use AI today2How do you use generative AI in your workflow?Craft pitchesWrite press releaseWrite social copyResearchStrategy and planningFind journalistsOtherGenerating images to accompany content0%20%40%60%80%100%57%48%48%44%25%21%11%10%Most PR professionals are

14、using generative AI for writing tasksRespondents who work at brands(72%)are more likely to say they use AI to craft pitches compared to agencies(55%).Survey takers from agencies(32%)are more likely to say they use AI for strategy&planning compared to brands(19%).Research was another area cited more

15、often by employees at agencies(50%)compared to brands(30%)as an area where they use AI.Which of the following do you think are risks generative AI poses to the PR profession,if any?PR people use unscrutinized AI output and lower the quality of conversationsYounger/newer PR pros dont learn the princi

16、ples of the profession and rely too heavily of toolsClients/firms think they dont need content creators anymoreAudiences get overwhelmed with so much content its harder to reach them or stand outNone of the above0%20%40%60%80%100%60%58%56%33%3%PR pros already using AI consider a broad range of risks

17、More than half of PR pros are concerned about the use of unscrutinized AI output,the impact on younger or newer PR pros and clients thinking content creators can be replaced by AI.How PR pros want to use AI in the future3In the future,if you chose to use AI as a tool,in which area(s)might it be the

18、most impactful?(select all that apply)0%20%40%60%80%100%Research and list buildingMonitoring and measuringStrategy and planningWritingReportingPitching68%54%52%38%36%26%Most PR pros want to use AI for research and list buildingWriting,along with monitoring and measuring,are also popular areas to exp

19、lore with AI.BrandAgency0%40%80%100%60%20%61%49%PR pros interested in using AI for writing tasks in the futureWriting is a more popular use case for respondents working at brands61%of brand respondents say they want to use AI for writing versus 49%of people at agencies.Which of the following do you

20、think are risks generative AI poses to the PR profession,if any?PR people use unscrutinized AI output and lower the quality of conversationsYounger/newer PR pros dont learn the principles of the profession and rely too heavily of toolsClients/firms think they dont need content creators anymoreAudien

21、ces get overwhelmed with so much content its harder to reach them or stand outNone of the above0%20%40%60%80%100%62%60%59%40%3%PR pros who are not using AI have similar concerns as those using AI Fears of audiences becoming overwhelmed by AI content are slightly more prevalent for people who dont yet use AI compared to those who do.Muck Racks Public Relations Management(PRM)platform enables PR teams to find the right journalists for their stories,send customized pitches,build meaningful relationships with the media,monitor news and quantify their impact.Thank you!https:/Learn more