Editor's Introduction
Hilary Fussell Sisco, Ph.D., APR
Editor-in-Chief
As an educator for almost the past two decades, throughout the changes in the field of public relations and the administration of higher education, when asked what I wish I could teach students to be successful in public relations my answer remains the same. I wish I could teach them to be curious. Curiosity is the foundation of learning and is essential in the field of public relations. Curiosity drives inquiry into the reason why people believe the way they do or to understand how messages are received.
As we become more isolated in our algorithm-delivered media and content and basic search functions, I wish all those entering the workforce remained curious about the things they don’t know and never learned. We are embracing yet another phase of navigating the unknown with the change to culture and the workforce the pandemic provided to the new world order under the assistance (or rule) of artificial intelligence. The limitations of AI were outlined in a recent Forbes article that agreed, “Unlike humans, AI systems cannot wonder and be curious, essential for scientific exploration and discovery” (Randieri, 2023). As public relations practitioners move from fear to acceptance of the impact that AI has on our work it is essential to highlight what it cannot do. How we shape and formulate the efforts of Artificial Intelligence is essential to its improved outcome.
The first article in this issue addresses how AI, specifically AI influencers can impact public perception. In this article, Sera Choi argues that organizations can enhance relationship-building with the publicby using generated influencers if they are cognizant of the ethical challenges inherent in their use. Further, if AI influencers are used correctly as public relations tactics organizations may find enhanced benefit to their communication strategy.
Our opinions of products, brands, and people have been shaped by generated content for a very long time. Organizations now understand that their sphere of influence is expanded to not only a first-person but also a third-person effect of the social conversation. In the second article in this issue, Liu & Getz evaluate how corporatesocial advocacy can divide the conversation and whether the chatter surrounding those efforts impacts the public’s perception of the organization’s value. The two cases reviewed in this article demonstrate the importance of organizational legitimacy and being proactive in your values as an organization.
The other aspect of curiosity that plagues me regarding public relations is that despite changes in demographics, technology, and global impact some of the issues that degrade the profession sustain regardless. In our final article in this issue, Monacell & Han address the issues of ageism in women working in communication. This study highlights that while we are adapting to new and curious about the changes to our profession, we should also advocate forall those who want to be heard. The changes we face in our profession and scholarship today may be different but the effort in navigating the unknown is the same.
As we do with every first issue of the fall, I would like to update our readers on the following journal statistics. In the past year, we received 23 manuscript submissions, we accepted four of them (17%) and rejected 65% while another four (17%) were returned as revisions to be resubmitted.
I would like to extend my deepest thanks to the following reviewers for their service on this issue:
Lois Boynton, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Regina Chen, Hong Kong Baptist University
Zifei (Fay) Chen, University of San Francisco
Kim Johnston, Queensland University of Technology
Liang Ma, Texas Christian University
Thank you for reading and your support for Public Relations Journal.
Hilary Fussell Sisco, Ph.D., APR
Editor-in-Chief
References:
Randieri, C. (2023, March 23). Can AI Replace Human Curiosity?Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2023/03/22/can-ai-replace-human-curiosity/?sh=48f0cef81991