PR’s Prickly Problem: How to Handle AI-Armed Antagonists

In the high-stakes arena of public perception, Public Relations (PR) professionals must raise their game urgently to overcome adversaries armed with powerful Artificial Intelligence (AI) artillery.  

The Setup 

Imagine this. A motley crew huddles in a dimly lit room, spellbound by three powerful Artificial Intelligence (AI) apps sharing a laptop’s split screen. With a few keystrokes, their leader unleashes the apps for a sharp-focused attack on a targeted firm.  

One app scans the firm’s media releases, exposing exploitable weaknesses and unpacking razor-edged counterpoints. Another app uncoils a slick activism strategy to ruin the firm’s reputation progressively. A third churns customized prompts on demand, optimising the others’ outflow. The AI apps understand and anticipate the group’s intentions. With advanced contextual understanding and only cursory ethics, they craft strategies that align precisely with the group’s resources and timelines.

The group exchanges high fives. AI lets them punch way above their weight. In shared media, activism on steroids is at their fingertips—literally.  

The Scenario 

This scene is imaginary. The scenario is a looming threat.  

The cybersecurity company Mandiant warns that the growing availability and advantages of new AI tools would accelerate their use by threat actors. According to Mandiant, modern AI tools enable threat actors with limited resources and capabilities to produce large-scale, high-quality content.

Mandiant predicts that the AI toolkit will expand in a range of media formats—text, images, audio and video—and the increased use of AI to strategise their deployment according to the availability and capabilities of publicly available tools and the effectiveness of each media form to invoke desired emotional responses.

Cutting-edge AI tools allow PR antagonists to analyse huge data pools, identify weaknesses in PR strategies, predict potential PR moves, and calibrate sophisticated attack vectors. They can custom-design and execute attacks that maximise reputational damage by mimicking human voices, amplifying false narratives, and flooding social media with misinformation, disinformation, and outright lies.  

They are fast, easy to activate, and cheap. Their advanced understanding of context, ability to learn from outcomes, and quick adaptability to shifting conditions make them harder for PR operatives to counter. Pre-empting and outfoxing AI-armed PR antagonists is not for the faint of heart, but a window of opportunity is still open—slightly. Mandiant notes that effective operational use is not prevalent. PR strategists can stay ahead of them if they raise their game—fast.  

The Minefield 

In the digital age, PR practitioners must navigate a minefield of AI-enhanced misinformation, disinformation, hoaxes, fake news and more. Classic PR tactics cannot cope. The only way PR operatives can prevail is by using AI technology to supercharge their strategies. They must know their antagonists’ cheap, readily available, easy-to-use AI tools inside out—and how to stymie them. Of course, PR counter-technology must go hand in hand with a sound Crisis Communications Plan and a strong Social Media Policy. Unlike their opponents, PR pros must operate within an ethical framework.  

PR antagonists are using AI tools to ramp up nefarious agendas exponentially, leaving PR practitioners scrambling to respond. With a few shrewd prompts, the bad guys roll out enticing concoctions of deceit—propaganda, click-bait, biased content, sponsored content, satires, hoaxes, pseudoscience, conspiracy theories, and more. In this muddle, the Average Joe can unwittingly spread wrong information as facts. Without malice, persons can easily acquire and share an AI-generated mix of true and false or partially true and partially false information about PR clients.

AI tools can plunder private databases, record and mimic the images and voices of real people, and generate or alter video clips. With ample access to avant-garde machine learning algorithms, PR antagonists can amplify issues into crises in a matter of hours.They can analyse historical data, identify incriminating information and time its release for maximum impact.  

Deepfake viral videos depicting public figures in compromising situations cause instant, widespread reputational damage. In 2024, X temporarily blocked all searches for pop star Taylor Swift to stop persons sharing AI-generated fake intimate images of her. Fraudsters also circulated deepfake videos of Swift and actress Jennifer Aniston making giveaways and participating in marketing campaigns. The growing circulation of deepfakes of news presenters, politicians and private citizens, has triggered significant real-world impacts.  

The Impacts 

AI’s dark side gained global attention when Russia’s Internet Research Agency tried to influence voters in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The Russian troll factory used AI algorithms to generate fake news articles and social media posts then used bots to amplify and share them online to influence the election. Concerns escalated when Cambridge Analytica stole data from millions of Facebook users without consent to influence political campaigns. Alarm bells are ringing, but threats outstrip protection.  

A TIME magazine article published in October 2024 discussed the impact of AI on the U.S. 2024 elections and the proliferation of AI-generated deepfakes and misinformation campaigns to influence voters. A March 2024 Reuters Institute article exposed the potential impact of AI-generated disinformation on elections and how journalists should report on it. Apart from political mischief, high-profile corporate scandals and attacks on public figures pinpoint the magnitude of the threat in the PR world.  

Fraudsters duped a Hong Kong finance worker into transferring over US$25 million to them by using deepfake technology to disguise themselves as colleagues on a video call. Apart from the financial loss, this incident emphasised the scarcity and weakness of security protocols to protect corporate communications from AI-contrived attacks.  

The Fightback 

By pooling ideas and resources, PR operatives can fight back forcefully against AI-driven deceptions and defamations. Expanding their understanding of AI technologies, such as Machine Learning, Generative AI, and Expert Systems, will help. Machine learning models trained on large datasets use statistical learning techniques for classifications and predictions. Generative AI models, such as ChatGPT and Gemini, create new text, image and video content from their training data. Generative AI is powered by the more traditional Machine Learning models behind the scenes. Expert systems emulate the decision-making capacity of human experts.  

The Crisis Communications Network of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) shares timely and relevant articles and resources on crisis communication in the AI era. Its Crisis Communication and Social Media Guide is a roadmap for effective PR crisis management in the digital age. It provides a Five-Step Crisis Management Model—Mitigate-Prepare-Arm-Equip-Manage—that includes AI-powered predictive analytics for monitoring and mitigating risks. Drawing from the Crisis Communication Theory, it recommends precise information and communication management before, during and after a crisis, plus continuous refinement of PR interventions.  

The guide endorses proactive PR with intense social media monitoring, utilising AI tools like Sprinklr, Brandwatch, or X Pro for real-time insights into audience sentiment. Coupled with a thorough understanding of disinformation, this approach promotes early detection of reputational risks and timely interventions.  

To use these AI tools seamlessly, PR operatives can apply the Human-Machine Collaboration theory, especially Alan Turing’s insights on pooling human ingenuity and empathy with the precision and processing power of AI. Everett Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovations Theory can help them understand how and why different groups adopt innovations, and how their innovativeness, relative advantages, complexity, compatibility, verifiability and observability determine how quickly they span cultural and social boundaries.  

In the CIPR guide, Vice President of the International Association of Risk and Crisis Communication, Philippe Borremans recommends exploiting AI’s capacity for high-speed analysis of vast amounts of data to identify potential issues before they become crises. Social media engagement and tracking specialist, Paul Quigley advises using AI tools to discern patterns in public sentiment and behaviour to understand, predict, and mitigate reputational threats. Behavioural science communications expert, Shayoni Lynn shares digital-age techniques to neutralise disinformation and misinformation.  

To increase their success rates, PR practitioners can apply Grunig’s Excellence Theory to enhance relationships with strategic stakeholders. Knowing who your stakeholders are and the media they are likely to use for updates on the situation is key to managing any crisis. Mutually beneficial two-way communication between clients and target audiences is essential for building and maintaining socially responsible and ethical relationships with stakeholders. The Uses and Gratifications Theory can help PR pros pinpoint the media people actively seek out for social interaction, personal expression, entertainment, and information. This will inform their choices of AI-generated content for ideal social media distribution and popularity.  

The CIPR guide and other gilt-edged resources emphasise that PR operatives must put pre-approved holding statements and rapid response protocols in place to acknowledge issues quickly and to help establish clients as the primary sources of truth during crises. Transparent Communication is critical to managing disinformation, and timely updates about the situation, including actions to resolve it, can mitigate speculation and confusion among stakeholders. In this regard, open dialogue with stakeholders that addresses their questions and concerns quickly and directly can promote trust and infuse reliance on official communications rather than misinformation.  

Against this backdrop, the Small-World Network Theory proposed by Duncan Watts and Steven Strogatz can galvanise PR strategies. According to the theory, short path lengths between the nodes of digital networks propel fast, efficient communication via a few intermediaries. PR practitioners can exploit high user interconnectedness in social media to trigger the viral sharing of PR content. Correspondingly, Mark Granovetter’s Strength of Weak Ties Theory asserts that channels linking persons with weak ties—acquaintances rather than friends—bridge social circles easily, making them more valuable for spreading AI-enhanced PR content to much broader audiences.  

The Future 

Zendesk’s 2025 CX Trends Report states that companies worldwide are embracing AI Copilots—AI tools that manage routine tasks, enhance efficiency, and support human agents—as they move toward future-proofing operations and benefits. However, Zendesk, Bankinfo Security and Forbes Magazine warn that the use of Shadow AI—external tools unapproved for agent use—has skyrocketed with a 250% increase year-over-year in some industries. Shadow-AI tools escalate risks related to PR clients’ privacy, security, and service quality, but PR pros can counter them decisively. AI tools that track public sentiment in real-time can provide valuable insights into how audiences react to a crisis. PR practitioners can use these tools to source data and craft proactive strategies to address the threat effectively.  

An arsenal of dynamic AI tools is available to PR pros for the development and refinement of strategies that are substantially more effective than traditional approaches. When rapid responses are crucial, AI-driven chatbots and automated messaging systems are vital in handling initial inquiries and providing real-time responses. Influencer-engagement tools can identify appropriate influencers quickly and recommend how to use them to shape public perception during PR crises. AI-powered crisis simulators allow PR practitioners to prepare and test strategies for multiple scenarios, ahead of real crises. AI analytics tools can evaluate large datasets at lightning speed and root out the causes of crises and project possible outcomes.  

Conclusion 

In the hyper-connected digital age, PR operatives can stay ahead of AI-armed adversaries by acquiring the best AI tools early and using them prudently and ethically. They must replace outdated strategies with tactics that integrate AI tools in proven conventional methods. Most traditional human-driven PR strategies cannot match the speed and scale at which AI can operate. However, the human touch is irreplaceable. Human analysis, judgment and fact-checking are crucial in defusing AI-driven antagonism and only human interaction can build the strong, pliable stakeholder relationships that nurture and support PR interventions.  

The Agenda Setting Theory, which holds that media influences public perceptions and priorities, helps PR professionals set the agenda for their interventions. However, PR antagonists can now hijack this theory and set their own agendas by using the same AI tools available to PR professionals to mislead, misinform, disinform, and manipulate public opinion. PR pros must beef up their AI skills urgently to neutralise this threat. 

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Gwen reflects on studying the CIPR Professional PR Diploma with PR Academy

What do you see as the key benefits of having the PR Diploma qualification?

The diploma will attest that I understand core principles, models and concepts of professional PR services and can plan, implement, and measure PR comms strategies effectively using international best practices.

What has been your favourite part of the CIPR PR Diploma course so far?

Since I work full-time, I enjoy learning at my own pace without the pressure of scheduled attendance and frequent assignments. I also enjoy exploring the models and theories that underpin PR strategies in various real-world situations.

Have you yet been able to apply any of the learning, and if so, how?

The course has sharpened my critical thinking skills and provided me with a wide range of proven models, techniques and tactics to apply in diverse work situations. This higher level of awareness has significantly increased my ability to detect and mitigate challenges and risks.