Ethical Guidelines for Generative AI

Since the PR Council’s initial publication of the guidelines last April, the landscape of generative AI in the communications industry has evolved significantly, with some firms moving from cautious experimentation to tactical implementation and even strategic adoption.

Recognizing this, the PR Council has revised its guidelines to include an overview of the current state of AI, common use cases across agencies and guidance on disclosure to clients, employee training and more. A focus group with creative directors was an important step as we worked with our cross-disciplinary team — including experts in ethics, corporate reputation, digital and DEI — to update the guidance.

Key Takeaways

Key updates include:

A continuum has emerged that delineates phases in AI’s evolution within firms highlights its implications for serving clients, supporting teams and advancing the public interest.
While AI use cases, especially among Creative teams, has expanded greatly, the outputs are not final, client-ready work due to copyright and trademark issues and the acknowledgment that human creativity is essential for producing unique, on-strategy outputs.
With AI being integrated into many existing tools and platforms, agency professionals should stay informed about new capabilities, challenges and biases.
Establishing clear policies regarding the use of generative AI, including transparency requirements, is an increasing need for agencies and clients. This applies to all vendors, including influencer or creator relationships.
Despite predictions that large language models will eliminate hallucinations within 18 months, proper sourcing and fact-checking remain crucial skills.
Experts continue to advise caution when inputting confidential client information, due to mistrust of promised security and confidentiality measures.
Given the persistent risk of bias, adhering to a checklist to identify and mitigate bias is critical.

Guideline  Contributors

The ethics and standards task force was led by Anne Green, CEO of G&S Business Communications and Mark McClennan, General Manager of C+C and Ethical Voices podcast creator. The task force is comprised of ethics, technology, diversity and corporate reputation leaders across the PRC Member agencies, including Kevin Dulaney, Naria Frazer, Rachel Hadley, Jenna Kantrowitz, Megan Kessler, Greg Matusky, KayAnn Schoeneman, Tejas Totade, Natasha Vuppuluri, Carol Watson and Brooke Worden.

We also received input from a group of creative directors, including Alexia Adana, Jamie Falkowski, Daniel Lustig, Jacob Porpossian and Kyle Turner.