AI is here, but a Page Center study finds that PR leaders aren’t always leading the discussion

Artificial intelligence is everywhere in PR, but leadership may be lagging. Results from a Page Center-funded study we conducted last year show that agency leaders are only marginally more active than clients in AI conversations. This raises concerns about who is truly setting the strategic agenda during a time of fast and frequent change.

Our recent survey data and focus groups with PR professionals reveal a profession in the midst of a pragmatic transition, balancing the undeniable lure of efficiency with the necessity of human oversight.

A tool for augmentation, not replacement

The research highlights a clear consensus: PR practitioners view AI as a productivity booster rather than a substitute for human expertise.

• Content Generation: AI tools are primarily used to overcome "blank page syndrome," assisting in first drafts of press releases, pitches and social media content.
• Data Synthesis: Beyond writing, AI has become a staple for research, summarizing lengthy reports, monitoring media trends and scanning vast datasets to inform strategy.

By offloading these high-volume, low-context tasks to AI, professionals can reclaim time for the "core" functions that computers cannot replicate: creative storytelling, high-level strategy and relationship building.

The psychology of adoption

What actually drives a PR manager to use generative AI? Our survey findings suggest it isn't peer pressure or "bandwagoning." Instead, adoption is driven by two internal factors:

• Positive attitudes toward using AI at work: A genuine belief in the tool’s utility.
• Perceived behavioral control: The communication professional’s confidence in their own ability to navigate the tech.

While leadership transparency is important, it is not enough on its own. To drive adoption, PR organizations must move beyond simply "being open" about AI and focus on empowering employees through training that builds actual capability and confidence.

The "Nuance Gap" and strategic risks

Despite its speed, AI use remains limited by a lack of contextual intelligence and bias and concerns about privacy. Participants in our study especially from small agencies consistently noted that AI tools struggles with:

• Localized context.
• Accuracy with specialized knowledge

Practitioners are not confident about the veracity of the output provided by AI tools. Consequently, while larger organizations are leading the charge by weaving AI into their operations with formal ethics policies, smaller agencies remain cautious. AI is treated as a starting point, a tool that still requires a human driver to navigate the complexities of public relations.

Leading the ethical conversation

There is a growing "proactivity gap" in the industry. While ethical concerns are top-of-mind, conversations with clients about AI are often reactive, triggered by the client rather than the agency. There is a clear opportunity for PR firms to take an ethically driven leadership role, setting the standard for transparent and responsible AI use before being asked to do so.

Preparing the next generation

The PR professional of tomorrow must be an innovative experimentalist, someone who not only leverages AI tools to drive efficiency but also intentionally shapes how they are integrated into strategy, creativity, and client counsel. Our findings reveal that 76.9% of practitioners use AI most or all of the time, yet this usage remains concentrated in operational and efficiency-driven tasks rather than in strategic leadership.

Moreover, PR agencies report discussing their own use of AI slightly more often than they report discussing client AI adoption, but the gap between agency and client leadership in the conversation is minimal, suggesting that agency leadership is not consistently driving the AI agenda. We also found that C-level executives discuss their company’s use of AI (71.5%) and their clients’ use of AI (67.1%) with clients more frequently than lower levels of leadership do (company’s AI use: 40.8%; clients’ AI use: 34.7%).

This raises a critical question: Are senior leaders in PR truly leading the conversation on AI, or are they allowing clients and junior practitioners to set the pace? If leaders are primarily enabling adoption without modeling strategic use, agencies risk a growing “nuance gap” — where technology is applied for tactical gains but not for transformational impact.

While junior team members face the dual pressures of mastering core PR principles and adapting to a rapidly evolving AI ecosystem, organizational support should not be limited to junior staff alone. Senior leadership must step into a more active, expertise-driven role by elevating AI fluency at all levels, with particular emphasis on strategic, ethical, and creative application.

Ultimately, the future of PR lies in a symmetrical approach to communication, one where internal confidence in AI, a clear ethical compass, and leadership accountability ensure AI remains a responsible force for innovation rather than a point of friction or inertia.

For more information about this study, email Kim at joonkim@uri.edu. This project was supported by a 2024 Page/Johnson Legacy Scholar Grant from the Arthur W. Page Center.