The explosion of artificial intelligence (A.I.) is forcing significant changes across professions, and the public relations industry is no exception. A.I. promises to reduce manual tasks and increase efficiency, leaving more time and energy for strategy and creativity. However, the potential downside is that it erodes the core principles that effective communications are built on including trust, credibility, and relationships. This is why it’s critical to understand how and where A.I. can be implemented in an organization’s communications in ways that uphold, not undermine, these core principles. 

Trust in general is currently in a precarious position, especially with the rise of misinformation and disinformation. Edelman’s 2026 Trust Barometer report showed that only about half of people in Canada trust businesses to do what is right. Carelessness and the misuse of A.I. and technology isn’t helping build confidence, such as when Air Canada’s virtual assistant provided a grieving customer with incorrect information, or when the White House shared an image of a protestor that had been digitally altered. More than ever, companies need to be building faith in their use of A.I., with both their customers and employees. This will take a concentrated effort, clear governance, and an investment in training. 

To better understand how A.I. technology is changing how companies communicate, our communications agency, surveyed over 80 communicators and executives across sectors, to understand how they were using A.I. for their organizations’ communications and what interests and concerns them most.

The survey results show that even though 87 percent of the respondents are using A.I. in their work, many of them have concerns and believe ethical guidelines are critical. Despite this, almost 70 percent of organizations lack formal guidelines and/or policies around A.I. use and 78 percent lack formal A.I. training for their teams. When asked about what keeps them up at night around A.I. and their organization, 45 percent of respondents cited lack of staff training or protocols for responsible A.I. use, yet only 16 percent of companies have a dedicated budget for A.I. tools or training in communications. This represents a significant risk and opportunity for employers. In fact, in an Edelman poll on trust and A.I. they found that in the U.S. over 40 percent of respondents are resistant to the increased adoption of A.I. but that positive workplace experiences can increase that trust.

There is also a gap between A.I. use and disclosure, which is especially important in building credibility among audiences. Our survey found that most companies are using A.I. for research, editing, and/or polishing content and almost two-thirds are using it for content creation, such as press releases or videos. And while the majority of respondents believe audiences can sometimes or usually tell if communications materials were generated or assisted by A.I., only about eight percent of organizations always disclose that use. These gaps in training, guidelines, and disclosure aren’t surprising given that more than a quarter of respondents said that there is no clear ownership for A.I. decision-making for communications within their organization. Without clear leadership and accountability, mistakes will be made. 

A.I. use is going to continue transforming the communications profession in good ways and bad. BC’s employers have a significant opportunity to guide and support that transformation by investing in training, establishing formal guidelines and procedures, and ensuring that employees feel supported and competent in engaging with this rapidly evolving technology in an ethical way. This leadership is needed now more than ever to ensure that the relationships of trust and credibility they’ve built with their audiences continues.