Artificial intelligence is advancing rapidly and sparking fears of widespread job displacement, including among white-collar workers. Many PR tasks—such as drafting social media posts, building media strategy plans, and identifying whom to pitch—can be automated or performed by AI-assisted tools. Despite automation potential, human interaction remains irreplaceable: building trust with journalists, conducting face-to-face meetings, and nurturing relationships provide a competitive advantage. PR success relies on daily pitching across formats like op-eds, news stories, cable interviews and podcasts. Relationship-building through in-person meetings, coffee conversations and genuine exchanges continues to drive media traction.
With mass layoffs generating daily headlines and CEOs openly warning employees about AI-related job loss, there is cause for concern. Some experts are now expecting a "white-collar bloodbath," where even high-skilled positions that were traditionally safe may run into steep competition from ChatGPT, Google Gemini and the rest. No one seems to be safe -from new hires to mid-level workers and even more senior managers.
But it's not all doom and gloom. What AI can never replace is human interaction, and therein lies a competitive advantage for PR professionals who are willing to roll up their sleeves and interact with others. I'm not referring to chatbots; I'm referring to true human conversations, including face-to-face meetings. PR teams pitch media contacts on a daily basis, whether it's an op-ed column, a news story or interviews for cable news, podcasts and more.
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