Back to the core of PR, with AI as a sidekick

Let's face it: every time a new technology emerges, someone does cry out that our jobs are going down. With the advent of AI, in all its shapes and forms, it's no different. But PR professionals really need not worry. We won't be replaced by AI, but we will be replaced by colleagues who learn to work smartly with it. It's time to embrace that reality and show where our real added value lies.
afbeelding blog karlijn stoelinga progress juli 2025

Because thanks precisely to AI, PR agencies have the opportunity to get back to doing what we do best: investing in relationships, following news, spotting and advising. With AI as a smart sidekick, we have more time for the heart of our profession: Public Relations.

From fear to action
AI agents and tools are now more than useful tools. They help you plan, co-write content, analyze data and even think proactively with you. But they don’t take over your work. On the contrary, they make room for what PR once started out as and what it is still all about, relationships.

As PR consultants, thanks to AI, we finally get the chance to waste less time on repetitive tasks and invest more in real Public Relations: building and maintaining media contacts, monitoring the news on a daily basis and spotting opportunities or risks for our clients in time. We become the ears and eyes of our clients again, rather than just producers of press releases.

AI as an ally
Using AI does not mean losing your creativity or human touch. It means you can work faster and smarter. AI helps us create content, but we determine the strategy, the tone and, perhaps most importantly, the relationship. And therein lies the power of PR.

Because no matter how good AI becomes, an algorithm never picks up the phone to speak to a journalist. It doesn’t drink coffee during an interview. It does not sense when a story does or does not resonate. That remains human work.

Back to the core
Thanks to AI, we can therefore go back to the core of our profession: building trust, maintaining relationships, listening, advising and making a real difference for brands and their target groups. AI is not a threat, but an opportunity. And those who see that stand stronger than ever. The future of PR? It’s more human than you think. With AI as a smart sidekick.

By Karlijn Stoelinga, Senior PR Consultant at Progress Communications

More news