How AI is forcing journalists and PR to work smarter, not louder

"If you ask journalists and PR professionals what they fear most from AI, typically they'll say variations of the same narrative: AI will make content so easy to create that their roles will have little to offer. Virtually any AI model today can write passable articles and pitches (and lots more), so it feels like the value of the human touch is questionable at best."

"Clearly, how AI answer engines find and present information (how they filter, prioritize, and interpret the things they find on the web) will play a central role in how media and public relations work going forward. More importantly, it will determine how the two sides work together. And I mean "together" in the most neutral way. Sometimes journalism and PR are complementary and sometimes they are in conflict, but in either case, AI will be the new interface where this plays out."

"What I'm talking about of course is GEO (generative engine optimization), or more precisely the incentives it creates. AI answers are often said to be the new "front door" of the internet, since they're extremely popular (ChatGPT alone has almost a billion users) and that popularity is growing. Google's AI Mode for search, which subs out the "10 blue links" for an AI conversation, is now prominent on both the Google homepage and the Chrome omnibox."

AI is automating large portions of knowledge work and making content creation easier, reducing clear differentiation between human and machine outputs. AI is simultaneously changing how people find information by delivering answers through chatbots and synthesized summaries rather than traditional links. The mechanisms that AI answer engines use to filter, prioritize, and interpret web content will determine the distribution of attention and revenue across media and public relations. Generative engine optimization (GEO) will shape incentives for content creators and intermediaries. Large platforms introducing AI modes that replace link lists can concentrate traffic and pose existential risks to publishers.

Read at Fast Company