DefinePK

Abstract

The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in communication with the population has already started to introduce changes in the way governments communicate with citizens, dictate communication in the media, and provide various services to the population. The paper will provide the experiences, issues and ramification of the usage of AI in the practice of public relations (PR) by using a case study sample of government offices in Pakistan such as the Federal Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, the Press Information Department (PID), and provincial information departments. It is based on Agenda-Setting, Diffusion of Innovations, and Framing Theory that operate on the basis of mass communication theories. The study uses qualitative case study design, as it involves document researches and semi-structured interviews with government communication professionals.
Based on thematic analysis, five significant conclusions emerge in the data: increasing awareness but lack of adoption of AI capabilities; heightened operational efficiency of media monitoring, as well as crisis response, and especially, high institutional and technical barrier; ethical issues related to privacy and transparency, and finally: the pressing need to strategically design policy and capacity building that reflects on institutional and technical barriers. It has been concluded that implementing AI to improve government PR in Pakistan has massive potential but needs not only an investment in technology but an important reformation, education, and ethical governance. It can be recommended that the AI communication guidelines on the national level should be developed, the collaboration between agencies should work in favor of AI communication, and human capital should be invested in to make it responsible, inclusive, and people oriented.