Artificial intelligence is here! But will it take our jobs?
With mass layoffs generating daily headlines and CEOs openly warning employees about AI-related job loss, there is cause for concern. Some experts are now expecting a “white-collar bloodbath,” where even high-skilled positions that were traditionally safe may run into steep competition from ChatGPT, Google Gemini and the rest. No one seems to be safe—from new hires to mid-level workers and even more senior managers.
In my field, public relations, it is easy to see how AI can do many PR tasks without a human touch. Whether it means drafting a social media post, putting together a media strategy plan or figuring out “who” to pitch with “what” and “when,” an AI-assisted human being or AI alternative can handle many PR tasks. Thus, PR professionals have been asking the question for years now: “Will AI replace us?”
But it’s not all doom and gloom. What AI can never replace is human interaction, and therein lies a competitive advantage for PR professionals who are willing to roll up their sleeves and interact with others. I’m not referring to chatbots; I’m referring to true human conversations, including face-to-face meetings.
PR teams pitch media contacts on a daily basis, whether it’s an op-ed column, a news story or interviews for cable news, podcasts and more. Our relationships with journalists, who trust us to provide valuable content, are critical to success. The relationship part of the business is like currency—the more people you know, the more likely you are to find traction when it comes to pitching.
We Don’t Need To Reinvent The Wheel
How do you build relationships, personally or professionally? It’s the old-fashioned way: shaking hands in-person, grabbing a cup of coffee, talking about work and life and everything in between.
In too many cases, younger PR professionals believe that a simple email or direct message is enough to establish a connection, ensure a pitch is read and, eventually, published. But it’s not enough.
While Gen Zers and Millennials are incredibly tech-savvy (I marvel at their abilities with a computer or a phone), it is easy to fall into a sense of complacency, where impersonal digital interactions replace phone calls and in-person meetings. The digital world doesn’t bring the same level of nuance and chemistry that personal get-togethers can produce. Our brains are actually wired to be social, with chemicals like dopamine, oxytocin and serotonin playing crucial roles in our interactions.
AI can’t replicate this phenomenon. It won’t replace a strong networker who listens and talks to people about shared interests, gathering valuable information and properly conveying it too. Sometimes, people just want to open up to someone else, and the same is true for journalists. Off-the-record, of course!
When I got started in media relations for a ski resort back in the 1980s, we made it a mission to connect with reporters who would cover conditions on the mountain. We got the word out through hard mailers, fax machines and—yes—regular meetups with reporters to foster connections. After meeting with media contacts, I tried to stand out by sending them handwritten notes, and it worked. Many of the contacts became close connections who leaned on me for information about the resort, and we secured plenty of earned media along the way.
Cultivating Relationships Requires Ongoing Maintenance
The best kind of “follow-up”—the key to keeping a new relationship going—is a targeted one. It requires listening to the other person and remembering what they say. It might be their child’s name or their favorite sport or what they do on weekends. The key is to remember what makes them tick and use that in future encounters, showing people you care. That’s how you get them to know, like and trust you down the road.
Over time, this can mean the difference between a journalist using your pitch or not. It’s not the be-all and end-all, since you still have to provide journalists with information of value, but there is a competitive advantage to networking beyond the screen.
Remembering that their kid’s name is “Jared” or their favorite sport is tennis means that you have a way to personalize a connection, making people forget about the professional impetus behind it. Trust me; it works!
AI still hasn’t figured that part out, at least not yet. And that’s exactly how PR professionals and other types of workers can deal with AI disruption. Leaning into our humanity allows us to network and make the connections that matter most.
This article originally appeared on the Forbes Agency Council CommunityVoice in August 2025.
