🚀 PR Futurist #111 🦸‍♀️ Are you an AI PR superhero or Analog AI dinosaur? Take our test to find out.

Welcome

Are you AI ready?

Lots of you have already tried our fun AI readiness quiz to find out if you're an AI Superhero, but now there's a "scientifically validated" test of your AI competency. Well actually, you self-assess so it won't tell the whole story, but it's still interesting.

In this issue, we've also got Stuart's article in PRovoke summarising the highlights of the AMEC summit, which is also one of the topics discussed on the first-ever live broadcast of Embracing Marketing Mistakes, where Stuart was the guest.

The Wall Street Journal has an article on how the PR industry is using AI, a new tool to help you 'optimise' for AI large language models, a measurement framework for internal communications and a fascinating story about pitting AI LLMs against each other to play Diplomacy, the classic board game.

We cover the Global Alliance's Venice Pledge on responsible AI and Stuart's analysis of the research that helped inform it.

Finally, we have a look at how the BBC is using AI in the newsroom, seven in 10 of Fortune 100 companies using video AI avatars, and a report on how NHS comms is failing to use AI enough.

If you're intrigued by the idea of video AI avatars or digital humans, then you can see this introduction narrated by my Heygen AI avatar here.

You can also listen to an AI audio chat about this edition. It was generated using the new audio overview feature in Microsoft 365 Copilot.

News

Are you an AI Superhero or Analog AI?

Have you tried our fun AI Readiness Quiz yet? It assesses if you're an AI Superhero using AI to power you to success, or stuck in Analog AI wanting the world to slow down.

After you've tried our fun quiz why not try the COMM-AIT AI competency test we cover below.

Stuart Bruce

Stuart's summary of the AMEC summit in PRovoke

Stuart has written a comprehensive summary for PRovoke of this year's AMEC summit.

What would you do if your boss hired a former special forces Green Beret to help him flee the country in a private jet while hiding inside an audio equipment box after being arrested and accused of an $80 million swindle?

Find out what this is all about in Stuart's PRovoke article.

Karen Marshall

Comms failing to provide leadership for AI

I've analysed the Global Alliance report on AI and communications to identify the most alarming finding which is the failure of communications to provide leadership around AI. Six in 10 (57.5%) respondents have no leadership role in AI activities, and just one in 10 (8.2%) are taking a leadership role in AI governance and strategy.

If you're not thinking about and advising on the whole range of social licence for AI issues, then you're putting your organisation at risk.

Global Alliance used the findings of the research to inform its ‘Venice Pledge’ (story below).

Stuart Bruce

Talking AI and the Barcelona Principles 4.0 on LinkedIn Live

Stuart was the guest on the special live second anniversary edition of the Embracing Marketing Mistakes podcast. This is the show description:

Stuart Bruce is back. And let’s be honest, he’s one of the few people in PR who genuinely deserves the title “futurist”.

In this episode, he unpacks the newly released Barcelona Principles 4.0 and what comms leaders actually need to know about AI in 2025. Stuart’s advised over 400 organisations across more than 30 countries. He focuses on CommTech, crisis comms, measurement and strategy. No fluff, no jargon, just smart thinking that cuts through.

We dig into why setting proper objectives is essential. Why the Principles now encourage learning and iteration, not just reporting. And why it’s time to stop obsessing over media hits and start proving actual business results.

Stuart also shares how tools like Microsoft Copilot and Google Gemini can save hours each week, but only if you avoid the AI adoption illusion. That means no more buying tools without proper training. He explains how generative AI optimisation is changing the comms game, why trade publications might now outperform national media in AI search, and how misinformation and AI fakery are becoming real threats.

And in the middle of all that noise, we agree on one thing. Authentic video and face-to-face interactions still matter. Probably more than ever.

If you're still tracking AVEs or chucking AI into your workflow without a clue, give this a watch.

Subscribe here with your podcast app of choice (we recommend Pocket Casts) or find it on YouTube. Or visit the original LinkedIn post. The video starts at 1:59.

Karen Marshall

Listen to an AI audio chat about this issue of PR Futurist

Remember last year when everyone got excited about Google NotebookLM's audio overview feature? You can now do the same in Microsoft 365 Copilot Notebook.

This is tomorrow's PR Futurist newsletter. Have a listen, and let me know what you think.

AI

The WSJ asks if AI will empower the PR industry or just create a tsunmai of AI spam?

This article covers some serious topics - after a wild opening about an AI generated pitch that attacked the journalist it went to for caring more about Tesla than cancer. It got attention, but not surprisingly, it was overwhelmingly hostile.

It also has lots of practical, positive examples of using AI for PR:

Microsoft using Copilot AI to summarise mentions of Microsoft in news stories, podcasts and social-media posts so its communications team can more quickly develop a response strategy.
Microsoft using Copilot for almost every aspect of comms including developing social-media posts, conducting research and preparing executives for public speeches.
Grubhub using AI facial recognition to analyse the expressions of focus group participants. Research showed sushi and shellfish as the biggest cravings for women who had just given birth. Facial analysis showed much greater enthusiasm for cold cuts and sandwiches.
Golin using AI for crisis communications to track real-time responses and test potential responses on synthetic focus groups.
Edelman's "generative AI optimisation" tool to improve brand answers to AI LLM questions.

Stuart Bruce

Will emotional intelligence be the key to leadership success in an AI world?

Fascinating article about a new Harvard University Press book 'More Human: How the Power of AI Can Transform the Way You Lead'. It predicts 70% of leaders will no longer be qualified to do their job within three years. This is because in an AI-driven world technical expertise will be eclipsed by emotional intelligence and people skills which will become the real differentiator for leaders.

Stuart Bruce

Get in touch

Are you thinking about Microsoft Copilot?

Did you know Purposeful Relations has expertise in helping Microsoft users get the most out of Copilot? We can help you take your first steps all the way or create custom GPTs to generate value from your own data. Send us a message or book a meeting with Stuart to find out more.

CommTech tools

Self-assess your AI competency with COMM-AIT

COMM-AIT is a free online AI competency test designed specifically for communication professionals.

It was developed under the leadership of Professor Ansgar Zerfass at Leipzig University. Created in collaboration with experts from the Academic Society for Management & Communication and Siemens AG.

The test asks participants to self-evaluate themselves across knowledge, skills, and attitudes when using AI tools and services. Participants receive their individual AI Competency Index, along with a detailed profile that indicates their strengths and areas for improvement.

Other surveys and research have indicated that respondents often overclaim when asked to answer questions about how they use AI. This tool is likely to suffer the same problem.

The test is available online, free of charge, in both English and German at comm-ait.com.

Why not try this "scientifically validated" test alongside our fun So you think you know AI for PR quiz to find out if you're an AI Superhero or Analog AI.

Stuart Bruce

Adobe’s announces its LLM Optimizer tool

For the last 18 months, we've been looking in-depth at how people are increasingly using AI to ask questions instead of using search to research their own answers. In the last six months, it's suddenly become a much bigger issue, and the market is flooded with articles, research reports and tools that claim to help.

When we present on this, we use an AI-generated video of a snake-oil salesman in the Wild West. That should tell you what we think about some of the claims behind the tools that claim to help.

However, things might be about to change with Adobe LLM Optimizer. Details such as exactly what it does, launch date and price are still sketchy. But the fact it's from Adobe hopefully means its claims are likley to be robust.

It is too early to say if it will be useful for corporate communications and public affairs.

Tim Bailey

Reddit launches AI-powered community insight tools

I'm often astounded at how few public relations people use Reddit as a source for research and insight. Ofcom reports that Reddit is the fifth most popular social media platform in the UK, with 22.9 million adults (48% of UK online adults) using it.

Reddit has announced Reddit Community Intelligence, a set of AI tools designed to extract insights from its 20 years of conversations. The tools are designed to bolster Reddit's advertising offer, but like Google's insight tools, could also potentially prove useful for public relations insight.

Reddit Insights is an AI-powered social listening tool that uses proprietary metadata to provide real-time insights that Reddit claims will "help marketers confidently plan campaigns, validate creative ideas, and make smarter business decisions."

Stuart Bruce

Data, measurement, analytics

An integrated evaluation framework for internal communication - PR Academy

Kevin Ruck of PR Academy shares his updated take on the AMEC Integrated Evaluation Framework to make it even more relevant to internal communications. He points out that the PESO model is less relevant for internal comms and suggests how IC professionals can use CTL - Channels, Topics and Listening instead. Not as snappy, but definitely more relevant.

Tim Bailey

Case studies

What can PR pros learn from teaching AI to play Diplomacy?

This article is a bit nerdy (okay, a lot nerdy) but has some transferable learning ideas for how to use and develop AI for comms. The experiment trained different AI models to play against each other in a version of the classic board game Diplomacy.

Stuart Bruce

BBC launches new generative AI pilots for news production

The BBC's two new pilots use AI to improve news production while keeping humans in the loop.

Journalists use a single, approved prompt to summarise stories, which they then review and edit. The prompt analyses long articles and news stories to create new 'At a glance' stories which are popular with readers - particularly younger audiences. The BBC is monitoring the results to see if the AI-assisted bullet point summary box on selected articles helps it engage readers and make complex stories more accessible.

The second 'BBC Style Assist' reformats stories into BBC house style. It is used to edit the hundreds of daily stories created by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (reporters funded by the BBC but employed by regional news titles). Stories are then checked by humans.

Both of these examples can be applied to PR and communications.

Stuart Bruce

Seven in 10 of the Fortune 100 now using AI video avatars or digital humans

For me, the most staggering information in this article wasn't the wide variety of ways companies are using AI avatars or digital humans to create video, but how many of them are doing it.

Two of the leading suppliers are Synthesia and Heygen. Synthesia claims it currently has more than 65,000 customers and serves over 70% of the Fortune 100.

Heygen AI avatar of the intro to PR Futurist

We've been experimenting with AI video avatars for a while. This one is one of my avatars reading the introduction to the edition of PR Futurist.

It handles the video, better than the voice. The AI voice (Eleven Labs) strips out my accent and makes me sound far too posh.

Stuart Bruce

Should legal or PR teams build AI tools or buy them?

Is it better for legal teams to build their own AI tools or to make the most of specialist AI for law tools? You can ask the same question about specialist AI for PR tools. Spoiler - the answer is complex because it depends on so many different factors.

Stuart Bruce

Research and reports

New report warns NHS comms are failing to make the best use of AI

The use of AI by NHS comms teams is patchy and needs guidance to ensure safe and effective adoption, according to a new report by the NHS Confederation.

Stuart Bruce

Professional practice

Global Alliance's Venice Pledge on responsible AI

The Global Alliance's Venice Pledge is a collective pledge from communications leaders across the globe to reaffirm their collective commitment to ethical AI practices.

The seven responsible AI guiding principles:

Ethics first
Human-led governance
Personal and organisational responsibility
Awareness, openness, and transparency
Education and professional development
Active global voice
Human-centered AI for the common good

The Venice Pledge's principles are explained in more detail here.

The most important immediate action from the pledge is ensuring you have an effective AI policy for both the communications team and your organisation as a whole. The second is to tackle education and professional development with a training programme to ensure ethical and effective AI adoption.

The Global Alliance is the umbrella body for professional PR associations around the world.

Stuart Bruce