The Impact of Generative Artificial Intelligence on Public Relations Strategies: A Shift in Practitioner Roles and the Future of Corporate Communication

Abstract

This paper critically examines the transformative impact of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) on public relations (PR) strategies, the evolving roles of practitioners, and the future trajectory of corporate communication. Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) refers to artificial intelligence models capable of producing novel content (text, images, code) based on learned patterns. Its relevance to PR stems from its potential to automate communication tasks, enhance personalization, and provide data-driven insights. This study employs an integrative literature review methodology, synthesizing and critically analyzing existing academic and industry research to develop a conceptual understanding of GenAI's impact on the PR field. The analysis indicates that GenAI significantly alters PR practices, particularly in content creation, research, and personalization, offering unprecedented efficiency and scale. Concurrently, this transformation establishes a clear shift in practitioner skill sets toward strategic oversight, ethical judgment, critical thinking, and prompt engineering. Ethical priorities—including ensuring accuracy, mitigating bias, maintaining transparency, and addressing intellectual property considerations—stand at the core of responsible practice. The future of corporate communication is defined by a hybrid human-AI model in which GenAI actively augments human strategic capabilities rather than replacing them. These findings directly inform PR practice through the imperative of adaptation and continuous upskilling, guide education through necessary curriculum innovation, and advance future research by underscoring the importance of empirical investigations into implementation, ethics, and long-term impacts.