Constructing responsible AI in public relations : perspectives on ethical adoption from generative AI to agentic systems
TL;DR
The model proposes that neither competency alone is sufficient for responsible AI practice and that their combination enables public relations professionals to advocate not only for organizational publics, but for humanity as the emergent public of the AI age.
Abstract
This research examined how public relations professionals conceptualize, enact, and advocate for responsible AI (RAI) during a period of rapid technological change. Drawing on 22 semi-structured interviews with experienced U.S.-based communications professionals and using constructivist grounded theory (Charmaz, 2006), the study examined how professionals navigate such core ethical values of truth, trust, and transparency while adopting AI and counseling their organizations. Findings reveal that responsible AI in public relations is not given or simply adopted but actively constructed through everyday professional judgment, human oversight, and organizational influence. The study finds that responsible AI practice depends on the interdependence of AI literacy and ethics literacy, with public relations professionals translating both into advocacy, governance, disclosure judgments, and counsel. The study introduces the AI-Ethics Literacy Model for Human Advocacy[trademark] (AELHA[trademark], pronounced “ah-LEE-ha”) as its original conceptual contribution. AELHA encodes a foundational relationship: AI Literacy + Ethics Literacy = Human Advocacy. The model proposes that neither competency alone is sufficient for responsible AI practice and that their combination enables public relations professionals to advocate not only for organizational publics, but for humanity as the emergent public of the AI age.