This post is part of our monthly roundup series, where we identify hot topics in the media that PR pros and communicators should be aware of, along with our own takes on them. Feel free to offer feedback or add your comments!
The Royal Blunder
A photo of Kate Middleton, shared by Kensington Palace and later exposed as edited, sparked a PR crisis for the royals. There has been no shortage of news this month about “Kategate” – the royal photo faux pas. Here are just some of the headlines: Princess Catherine apologizes after doctored photo is removed from wire services (PR Daily), Kate Middleton photo calls royal family’s PR strategy into question (Axios), The PR silence around Princess Kate’s well-being fuels frenzy about photo mishap (The Conversation), Even Photoshop Can’t Erase Royals’ Latest PR Blemish (New York Times), and Why the Kate Middleton scandal just won’t die (Verge).
🔥 Our take: The incident exposed the limitations of the “never complain, never explain” strategy the late Queen Elizabeth II employed.
Communications and PR experts say the public demands transparency, especially in the digital age. The spread of the photo highlights the challenges of misinformation, with deepfakes and manipulated images making it difficult to discern the truth.
The secrecy surrounding Kate’s absence fueled public speculation and distrust. This emphasizes the importance of clear communication for maintaining trust and underscores the role of social media in spreading rumors and distrust.
“Once you are seen to be guilty of manipulation, hiding information or trying to airbrush situations there is a long road back to regain trust. Everything you issue will be questioned and will have an air of suspicion around it.” – Amanda Coleman, author of Crisis Communication Strategies (via CIPR’s Influence magazine).
To Coleman’s point (above), people are questioning everything now. Getty Images said another photo, shared by Kensington Palace on what would have been the late Queen’s 97th birthday (April 2023), was digitally enhanced by the royals.
Editor’s note: This piece was written prior to Princess Catherine’s video announcement of her medical condition.
AI Copyright, Misinformation and Elections
March seems to be the month when everyone suddenly grasped the potential ‘issues’ with using artificial intelligence. Axios reported that whistleblowers called out AI’s flaws and that public trust in AI is sinking across the board, as CNN declared AI is not ready for primetime. Finally, Vox reported on a new study by the Forecasting Research Institute where researchers tried to get AI optimists and pessimists on the same page. The resulting headline was Why can’t anyone agree on how dangerous AI will be?
On the copyright front, MediaPost reported that OpenAI is hit with two new copyright infringement suits, while Futurism says Microsoft mocks NYT’s AI lawsuit as “Doomsday Futurology.” CNBC published an article about researchers who tested leading AI models for copyright infringement using popular books, finding that “all the language models are producing copyrighted content verbatim.” In France, Google was just fined 250 million euros (about $270 million) for training Gemini (formerly Bard) on copyrighted media content and “failing to inform publishers of the use of their content,” per the New York Times.
Concerns for election misinformation are ramping up as the Associated Press says, “Artificial intelligence is supercharging the threat of election disinformation worldwide, making it easy for anyone with a smartphone and a devious imagination to create fake – but convincing – content aimed at fooling voters.” The Conversation published AI vs. elections: 4 essential reads about the threat of high-tech deception in politics, and Verge put together their own roundup called The AI-generated hell of the 2024 election.
🔥 Our take: It’s nearly impossible to keep up with all the AI advancements, new tools, applicable use cases, forthcoming regulations, and potential legislation. What we do know is that AI is making it much easier to create convincing fakes, misinformation and disinformation. The public is concerned about manipulation as the upcoming 2024 elections are a prime target.
Public relations is all about open communications and building connections that are necessary to build trust and credibility. Ultimately, all these news reports boil down to a few critical points for PR and comms pros. Don’t dismiss safety concerns like the potential generation of plagiarized copyrighted content, harmful content and biases that could lead to a lack of transparency and trust. Which, in turn, could lead to a full-blown reputational crisis.
AI for communicators: What’s new and what matters is an excellent piece from PR Daily, pointing out risks and regulations and how businesses must continue to adjust their strategies for using AI at work.
As I’ve said before, AI is a tool we, as communicators, can use; it is not a replacement for us. Critical thinking, healthy skepticism, original creativity, understanding cultural issues, and storytelling are human attributes that generative AI cannot replace.
Content Authenticity Statement: 91% of this month’s Hot Topics column was generated by me, a human. Generative AI was used for 71/783 words and was fact-checked and edited.
Maximize your PR results with our media outreach, media monitoring and reporting services.
