Guidelines for AI Use [REPORT]

By Nicole Schuman

PR practitioners have a new resource to help them navigate the growing world of artificial intelligence (AI).

On Nov. 20 the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) released “Promise and Pitfalls: The Ethical Use of AI for Public Relations Practitioners,” an extensive framework that follows PRSA’s Code of Ethics to provide best practices on preventing and managing potential ethical challenges that may arise from the improper use of AI tools.

Michelle Egan, APR, Fellow PRSA and 2023 PRSA Chair, says document ideation came from a combination of discussions led by PRSA’s Board of Ethics and Professional Standards (BEPS) at the beginning of 2023, and PRSA members voicing curiosity surrounding AI tools. Egan has been speaking about and mentioning AI in almost all outreach to members over the past year. She says it’s been interesting to see the rapid evolution of interest.

“[In February, March I’d ask,] ‘how many of you have used a tool like ChatGPT,’ and you’d see a few hands go up, and now you see many, many hands,” Egan says. “I’ve seen the tone around AI change from a sort of fear… to transition to more excitement and enthusiasm about [using] these tools to make [their] work better.”

PR Ethics and AI

Because the Code of Ethics is so integral to the organization and members’ professional values, the guide’s working group, which includes Linda Staley, Chair of the AI Workgroup; Mark Dvorak, APR, Fellow PRSA, 2023 Chair of BEPS; Michele E. Ewing, APR, Fellow PRSA; Holly Kathleen Hall, J.D., APR; James R. Hoeft, APR; and Cayce Myers, Ph.D., LL.M., J.D., APR, among others, chose to use that document as a foundation to help members navigate a new way of working that can be challenging and confusing.

To download report, CLICK HERE.