AI could be the death of strategic communications

Professor Peter McBurney and Jacob Solon | 24th February 2026 | Comment
As more firms begin to use artificial intelligence in their work, worries about the future of the strategic communications industry are surfacing (Photo by alexsl / Getty Images)
As more firms begin to use artificial intelligence in their work, worries about the future of the strategic communications industry are surfacing (Photo by alexsl / Getty Images)

Discussing their report with King's College London, Professor Peter McBurney and Jacob Solon grapple with the rise of AI, and how it will affect the strategic communications industry

Generative AI is now widely used across the strategic communications industry. Large language models are embedded in research, monitoring, and drafting workflows at firms of every size. Despite repeated predictions that AI would replace the industry altogether, this has not happened. The greater risk, based on my research with King’s College London, is the opposite: strategic communications firms are more likely to go out of business not because they fail to adopt AI, but because they adopt it too carelessly. Drawing on interviews I conducted with senior consultants and decision-makers from more than ten strategic communications agencies, ranging from global firms to small bespoke public affairs consultancies, the evidence points in one clear direction. AI accelerates work, but it destroys value when it replaces human judgment, human relationships, and human accountability. Firms that confuse efficiency with effectiveness, or automation with expertise, place client trust, reputations, ...

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