Microsoft study reveals how AI is reshaping the future of public relations

A new study from Microsoft highlights how artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly changing the public relations industry and other communication-focused professions. 

Conducted by Microsoft Research, the report analysed around 200,000 real-world AI conversations to assess which jobs are most likely to be affected by AI tools.

The findings show that interpreters and translators rank highest among individual occupations impacted by AI, with an applicability score of 0.49. 

Researchers noted that this reflects AI’s growing strength in language processing and cross-cultural communication, skills that are also central to modern public relations work.

Notably, public relations specialists ranked 23rd on the individual occupation list, with a score of 0.36, representing more than 275,000 professionals. 

However, the impact becomes more significant when looking at broader categories. Media and communication workers, which include most PR roles, ranked first among all occupational groups, with a score of 0.39, affecting over 600,000 people.

The study explains that PR professionals are vulnerable because AI performs strongly in areas such as information gathering, writing, and advisory tasks.

Researching trends, drafting press releases, preparing media pitches, and offering communication guidance are all activities where AI has shown high success rates.

However, despite these findings, the report has stressed that AI is not necessarily a threat to PR careers.