What We Can Learn From the Latest AI Ethics Fiasco
Last week, news broke that a UK-based “PR” agency has been using fake publicists to pitch stories to journalists. The story is as cringeworthy as any I’ve read in years.
Unfortunately, it seems once again that we have to remind each other what good ethical communications and business practice looks like. PRSA’s Code of Ethics, the bedrock of practice principles for our industry, espouses six important values:
Advocacy – We act as responsible advocates for those we represent and we add our voice to aid informed public debate.
Expertise – We acquire and responsibly use specialized knowledge and experience, and we serve to advance the profession and build mutual understanding and relationships with a wide array of institutions.
Fairness – We are fair with each other and support others’ rights to an opinion and to express themselves.
Honesty – We adhere to the highest standards of truth and accuracy.
Independence – We provide objective counsel and are accountable for our actions.
Loyalty – We are faithful to those we represent, while honoring our obligation to serve the public interest.
If you cross this scenario with the Code, you’ll rather easily see that most (if not all) values have been trampled. Honesty goes without saying. This firm also clearly wasn’t responsible in advocating for its client (advocacy), didn’t responsibly use its knowledge (expertise) and failed to serve the public interest by misleading the media (loyalty). I’d also argue they attempted to skirt accountability for their actions (independence) – the firm doesn’t seem to acknowledge their mistake in the story or understand the ramifications of it for the rest of us.
Just like in any other industry, since the beginning of time, so-called practitioners like these have been crossing boundaries and making a bad name for the rest of us. This won’t ever go away; people are always looking for shortcuts and easy ways out. Unfortunately, for us, this situation is doubly cringe because outsiders now have reason to trust professional communicators even less. And it goes beyond publicity efforts – why would anyone trust this firm (or the rest of us by extension) to deliver content, reputation plans or anything else?
Once again, we’re under the gun to defend our personal and professional reputations. There are a few ways to do this:
Act responsibly. It’s simple: do the right thing all the time, and you won’t give anyone a reason to question you.
Show your work. When asked, use case studies, references, etc. to tell stories about the quality and integrity of your work.
Refer to the Code of Ethics. We’re lucky to have a simple, easily digestible roadmap to guide us. Use it.
It takes a lifetime and a career to build and reinforce a quality reputation, and one moment of bad judgment to ruin it forever. Let’s rededicate ourselves to doing our craft the right way – and helping those around us to do the same.
