AI Can Act. Communicators Are Still Accountable.
Posted on Sep. 1, 2026 / Perspectives / Subscribe 0
By Jennifer Bagdade, APR, and Brant Skogrand, APR, MBC
Artificial intelligence can research, draft, monitor and analyze. Now, autonomous AI agents are stepping into execution – responding to stakeholders, distributing content and taking action on an organization’s behalf.
But AI does not make ethical decisions. People do.
Minnesota PRSA members are guided by the PRSA Code of Ethics, which provides the foundation for how we practice our profession, including our responsibility for accuracy, transparency, independent judgment and the impact of our work.
But the ethical questions we face continue to evolve. That is where PRSA’s Ethical Standards Advisories, or ESAs, become especially valuable. They help translate the principles of the Code into guidance for emerging issues and real-world situations.
The newest guidance, ESA 22: AI Agents and Public Relations, addresses this exact shift as technology moves from content generation to autonomous action. The advisory centers on transparency, accountability, accuracy, fairness, human oversight and public trust.
And these are not hypothetical risks.
In recent months, there have been real-life examples of:
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Fabricated expertise: A large management consulting firm published professional thought-leadership materials with fabricated citations and unverifiable sources generated by AI.
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Amplified bias: A large fitness chain pulled a campaign after facing backlash for AI-generated visuals that reinforced racial and gender stereotypes.
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Eroded media trust: Journalists report a rise in AI-generated pitches, synthetic sources and fabricated identities cluttering newsrooms.
The circumstances differ, but the ethical questions are remarkably consistent: Is it accurate? Is it transparent? Could it mislead? Who could be harmed? And who is accountable?
The answer cannot be “the AI.” Human oversight means verifying facts and sources, considering bias and unintended consequences, protecting confidential information, being clear about when AI is interacting with audiences and stakeholders, and establishing where human judgment and approval are required before an AI agent speaks on an organization’s behalf.
It also means using our professional judgment when speed or efficiency tempts us to skip those steps.
The question is no longer whether communications professionals will use AI. Most of us already do. The more important question is whether we will apply the same standards of honesty, fairness, expertise and accountability when a machine helps create the work or even begins acting on our behalf.
AI will continue to change how we work and expand our capabilities. It will never relieve us of our ethical responsibility.
Note: This post was drafted with the assistance of AI and vetted, edited, and approved by human communicators.
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