AI trends – everybody talks about the transformative and disruptive energy of artificial intelligence-based applications in the communication industry. Nobody can forsee the future in details but we can feel that this is a time of significant changes. We try to look into what lies ahead of us with renowned international AI, content marketing and digital communication strategist, writer and keynote speaker, Antal de Waij.
The first trend is about how how public relations professionals analyze and interpret audience reactions. Traditionally, PR has focused on sentiment analysis—determining whether public opinion is broadly positive, negative, or neutral. However, AI-driven advancements now enable us to move toward a richer understanding of context, emotional subtleties, and tone. By understanding machine learning and natural language processing, PR experts can dig into the underlying meaning of messages, detect sarcasm or irony, and even identify subtle shifts in public mood. This will be excellarated by, multimodal analysis that integrates information from text, images, video, and audio sources. This will provid a more holistic perspective and lets PR professionals craft their strategies more effectively. They can adjust messages in real-time, anticipate potential issues before they escalate, and create more personalized, empathetic communication. Ultimately, this trend encourages a data-driven, responsive, and human-centered approach to public relations.
The second big AI trend is that we move away from segmentation and go to a more personalized way of communicating. Using AI makes it possible to ‘hyper-personalize’ content towards an audience. This will significantly reshape the way public relations professionals approach outreach and engagement. PR strategies will need to focus on creating highly individualized experiences for each audience member. This shift is largely driven by advanced analytics, AI-powered data processing, and the widespread availability of personal data. It sets PR teams in the driver-seat to craft messages, content, and campaigns tailored to individual preferences, behaviors, and interests of an audience. This creatis more relevance and resonance and loyalty among stakeholders. So, rather than delivering a one-size-fits-all press release or social post, PR professionals can engage key audiences with content that truly speaks to their unique needs and values, making the relationship feel more authentic and meaningful.
The third AI trend is that of a faster, more responsive crisis-management. In a digital landscape where news and reactions spread at enormous speed, PR teams must respond more quickly and adapt their strategies on the fly. The days of waiting for a planned statement will be over. Statements must be published as soon as possible, in real-time before they escalate. To achieve this, constant monitoring of social media, online conversations, and news coverage is essential (see trend one). This shift doesn’t just prevent a crisis from spiraling—it can also create unexpected advantages. By responding swiftly, PR teams can demonstrate transparency, accountability, and empathy, thereby transforming a potential backlash into an opportunity to strengthen trust, credibility, and brand reputation. In essence, crisis management in the digital age is no longer reactive; it’s an agile, proactive process that places continues, real-time engagement at its core.
Oh yes, you are absolutely right. The PR and consulting agencies will transform in the next few years. Indeed, basic copywriting skills won’t disappear, but AI will assist them. I don’t think it will be a devaluation, though; we will move towards a world that is more real-time based, so the reaction time for PR agencies will be faster as AI helps them monitor real-time and react quicker with its assistance. PR agencies will retain their role in the value chain. However, the work that needs to be done can be accomplished faster and with fewer people.
Start experimenting with AI as of today. Do not hesitate. There is this saying that AI will not replace your job, but someone with AI skills will… If you are new to AI, I suggest starting with ChatGPT or CoPilot. One of the things I advise professionals to do is to start with ChatGPT and ask it at least one question every day about something that you might otherwise Google. This can vary from questions such as “What should I make for dinner tonight?” to “How do I prepare for my meeting today?” By pushing yourself to routinely use AI, it will not only improve your day-to-day life, but you will develop professional AI skills along the way.
Give it two years. Developments are really mind-bogglingly fast. So do not be misled by the fact that today the outcomes in Hungarian are not perfect. The outcomes, although not perfect, can help you to get new ideas, structure processes, assist in day-to-day tasks, adjust your strategy and all those things. And to be honest, when you ask a junior employee to do a certain task, often it’s not perfect either.
I tend to lean more towards systems design thinking than software development. Coding skills are among the types of jobs that will become rare in the future as AI works largely on a “no-code” basis. One of the skills we see is the “critical thinking” skill. It means you must train yourself to be a bit nosy and start asking questions. As all information will be democratized, the one who can challenge the status quo will be the one who can drive change.
Yes, journalism in the time of AI will be extremely important. The fact is that everybody now will be able to create content, so there will be a tsunami of content coming to us. A lot of content can or will be misleading. We need journalists to research the good from the bad. A lot of work (i.e. press releases) will be distributed through AI channels, and therefore it is important to understand how these AI search channels, for instance, work. Another trend will be that PR and journalism will be relied on more and more by human connections that can be personalized. It means that the production of content will be (partly) automated but your contacts and network will be able to prioritise your content in distribution.
In general, you might say that compensation will be more driven by results than that it will be retainer-based. What you see in the US is that agencies are receiving more compensation when they are more responsible for results. How that will impact agencies in Europe is still open for discussion, but when fundamental changes in industries occur, rest assured, business models will change.
Fortunately, in Europe, consumers are protected by the European AI Act. This means there are four types of risk levels, each requiring certain governance to remain legal. The thing is, others can weaponise AI through the use of deepfakes or unethical behaviour. People or organisations that use AI unethically on purpose will continue to do so as the technology is democratized for anyone with a keyboard. However, by educating your staff, your family, and others on the dos and don’ts of AI, you will be able to help yourself and society become more AI-literate. AI literacy is mandatory for people in professional environments as of 2nd February 2025. It is already legislation.
Large organisations spend a lot of money developing their systems as they sit on a huge amount of data. On the other hand, on a smaller scale, SMEs can implement AI in their workplace more easily as the technology is democratized. You just search the internet, search for a task you need to solve, find a tool, and start working on it. It’s really that simple. So, it’s more about the mindset to help yourself with new AI tools than the fact that it will be extremely costly.
That’s a really interesting question! You might say that the general LLMs (i.e. ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Copilot) are trained on knowledge from the internet. So this means that if there is enough flat earth content out there, the AI systems will be affected by that content. On the other hand, the systems will be able to increase their ‘reasoning’ capacity, so these types of theories will become less and less available. So, to be on the positive side, it will take some time, but I am confident that scientific knowledge will prevail.
Antal de Waij is a source of energy and optimism, with a career defined by forward thinking and embracing new opportunities. He has carved out a unique position at the intersection of the traditional and digital economy, bringing years of experience as a marketing leader at multinational B2B companies. His enthusiasm for innovation drives him to help organizations unlock their potential through digital strategy, AI, and content marketing.
With his passion for innovation, Antal recently published his book Content & AI! Oxygen for Your Customers, introducing the Content Marketing Canvas Model. This model helps organizations not only to develop the right strategy but also to integrate AI effectively into their marketing approaches. His practical experience and insights make him the go-to guide for B2B companies.
Antal is also an educator who passionately teaches B2B lead generation, strategy, Artificial Intelligence, and content marketing at renowned institutions such as NIMA, Beeckestijn, and SRM. His presentations and workshops regularly draw large crowds at conferences. With his forward-looking perspective, Antal consistently inspires organizations to take action.
