If you spend any time in communications today, you’ve probably heard some version of the same prediction:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00ab\u00a0AI is coming for PR.\u00a0\u00bb<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n For measurement and evaluation professionals, the concern feels particularly real. AI can already summarise coverage, analyse sentiment, identify themes, build dashboards and generate reports in seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So where does that leave human consultants?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Earlier this year at AMEC AI Day in New York<\/strong>, I explored exactly this question during a keynote examining how AI is changing public perception and what that means for the future of PR research. The conversation wasn’t about whether AI will transform our industry. That much is already happening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The real question is this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n As AI becomes more capable, what becomes uniquely valuable about being human?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n As part of the presentation, CARMA analysed thousands of media articles alongside research from more than 6,000 people across 19 markets to understand how AI is being discussed, and how audiences actually feel about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One message came through consistently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n People recognise AI’s enormous potential. Productivity, efficiency and innovation dominate media narratives. But trust hasn’t kept pace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Across markets, audiences remain concerned about misinformation, bias, loss of human oversight and accountability. At the same time, organisations using AI are increasingly expected to take responsibility for how it is deployed, not just the technology companies building it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For communications professionals, that creates an interesting paradox.<\/p>\n\n\n\n AI can help us work faster than ever before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the more AI is used, the more valuable human judgment becomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s easy to frame this as a competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Machines versus humans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Automation versus expertise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In reality, that’s the wrong debate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n AI is becoming exceptionally good at producing outputs. What it still struggles to do is understand organisational context, navigate competing stakeholder priorities or recognise the political and cultural nuances behind a client’s decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those are consultancy skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Anyone can generate a dashboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Far fewer people can sit in a room with senior leaders, understand what success actually looks like, challenge assumptions, connect disconnected data sources and translate evidence into confident strategic decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That’s where consultants create value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest misconceptions surrounding AI is that technical expertise alone will future-proof careers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The opposite may be true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As AI handles more executional tasks, the skills that become harder to automate become increasingly valuable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the keynote, I shared seven capabilities that I believe will define the next generation of PR researchers and communications consultants:<\/p>\n\n\n\n None of these replace AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead, they complement it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The consultants who thrive won’t necessarily be those who know the most prompts. They’ll be the people who know which questions to ask, which outputs to trust, how to challenge them, and how to turn information into decisions clients can act on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One story perfectly illustrates this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth, the calculations for his mission had already been completed by IBM computers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet Glenn famously asked for mathematician Katherine Johnson to verify them personally before launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He didn’t simply trust the machine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He trusted the person behind it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n More than sixty years later, that lesson still matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Clients increasingly use AI themselves. Many can generate summaries, dashboards and reports without external support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What they can’t generate is confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They still need someone they trust to explain what the data means, identify what matters, challenge weak assumptions and help them make better decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Technology can accelerate analysis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trust still depends on people.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAI is changing the work but not the responsibility<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The future isn’t AI versus consultants<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The skills becoming more valuable, not less<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Why trust still needs a human face<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Watch the full keynote<\/h2>\n\n\n\n