Saturday, 13 June 2026

How we are using AI responsibly

JComms has always prioritised having great people in our team who stay with us, and develop with us, long-term. People excellence and the consistency of our team is a USP in an industry of significant employment churn. Everyone in our team started with us as a junior consultant and worked their way up, including our directors.

We will always maintain that approach, and we’ll always employ and develop great people. But we have also always been innovative and agile, and that means embracing AI.

We all know that AI is transforming almost every industry, and PR and communications are no exception.

At JComms, we believe AI has the potential to make our team increasingly more effective, more efficient and better informed. Used properly, it can help us analyse information faster, identify insights more quickly, streamline admin tasks and support content creation.

But back to people. AI is only as valuable as the people using it. That's why we have AI training and development for all of our team and it's why we have an AI Policy that sets out how our team can use AI tools responsibly, ethically and securely as part of our day-to-day work.

Human expertise comes first

PR, more than perhaps any other sector, is fundamentally a people business.

Strategic thinking, judgement, creativity, relationship building, media engagement, reputation management and crisis communications all need human expertise and experience. AI can support these activities, but it can't replace them.

At JComms, AI is used to enhance our work, not to replace professional judgement. We review and verify any AI-assisted outputs and make sure they are refined by our experienced team members before being used.

Clients should be confident that their communications strategy is being led by people, not algorithms.

Guided by industry best practice

The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) guide on the responsible use of AI and the principles of the Venice Pledge, a global framework developed by the communications profession for the ethical use of AI, inform the approach we take.

The principles of the Venice Pledge include the following:

• Ethics first
• Human-led governance
• Accountability and responsibility
• Transparency and openness
• Education and professional development
• Professional leadership
• Human-centred use of AI for the common good

They closely align with our longstanding commitment to professional standards, ethical communications and client trust.

Protecting confidentiality and accuracy

AI tools offer significant opportunities, but they also present significant risks. Our AI Policy therefore includes clear guidance on the following areas:

• Data protection and confidentiality
• Verification of facts, figures and sources
• Avoiding bias and misinformation
• Transparency in the use of AI
• Intellectual property and copyright considerations
• Appropriate use of AI-generated content

AI systems can occasionally generate inaccurate information or ‘hallucinations’. All outputs therefore be have to be reviewed by our team and fact-checked before they are used in our client work.

Investing in AI skills and training

AI and the technology it is based on are evolving incredibly quickly, and responsible use requires ongoing learning and training. We are committed to investing in the training and development of our team to ensure they understand not only how to use AI tools effectively, but also the ethical, legal and professional considerations that come with them.

We encourage and support continuous professional development (CPD) and engagement with industry guidance, helping our team build the knowledge and judgement required to use AI responsibly.That's why we encourage our team to engage with guides such as the recently published CIPR guide on the responsible use of AI in PR and comms.

Supporting better outcomes for clients

Ultimately, we want to use the best available tools to deliver the best possible work for our clients while maintaining the standards of professionalism, integrity and trust that have underpinned JComms for a very long time.

AI will continue to evolve, and so will the way communications professionals work. As it does, JComms will continue to review and update our policies, invest in our people and ensure that innovation is balanced with responsibility.

Technology may change, but our commitment to ethical, strategic and effective communications remains the same. As does our commitment to being people-first.