Use AI to enhance your brand

Artificial intelligence can help increase the impact of a public relations programme with punchy headlines, clear logic and well written copy.

But don’t let AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini do the thinking for you.

Research suggests people who offload their tasks to AI are losing their ability to generate original ideas, question assumptions and make sound judgments.  

AI stifles critical thinking

A 2025 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) study revealed only 17% of AI users can recall the main points of their AI-assisted communiqués shortly after they had been written.

Other studies show that writing manually improves retention significantly, some claiming people remember 75 per cent of what they write down, particularly when it is handwritten.

The lack of information retention by AI users reflects a negative correlation between frequent use of AI tools and critical thinking.

A press release or email drafted by AI might tick all the right content boxes, but it might lack the insight a human expert can bring to the table.

A skilled communicator doesn’t just present information – he or she interprets it and puts facts and figures in context. This kind of thinking takes effort and focus.

Efficiency and quick results

Conversely, AI offers efficiency and quick results with serial AI users stuck in a routine of recycling other people’s ideas scraped from AI sources and overrelying on the technology to produce messages to send.

The notion that machines will make decisions for humans was first proposed in 1950 by Norbert Wiener, an MIT mathematician and the ’father of cybernetics’.  He cautioned that: machines, that can learn and adapt, are not obliged to make choices that humans would make or find acceptable because they optimise what they are told to value.

For example, AI can be used to determine what tone is appropriate without context, fairness or common sense.

This doesn’t mean companies should avoid AI when developing and implementing public relations programmes. Used in the right way, this fast-evolving technology can help to sharpen communications and enhance a company’s brand rather than trigger a drop in communication standards.

Think first

The best approach is to draft a communication before asking AI to proofread for spelling and grammar, verify figures from other sources, test calculations and check messages for consistency. This is the correct sequence, not the other way around.

Don’t let AI do the thinking for you

When pointed in the right direction, AI can produce a polished communiqués with clear structure, correct grammar and well-presented facts.

Just don’t let AI do the thinking for you because polish isn’t the same as insight.