Whether you’re drafting press releases on deadline or tracking trending hashtags for a brand campaign, AI is no longer a “future tool”—it’s now a core part of the modern PR toolkit. As a PR student preparing to enter a rapidly evolving industry, learning to work with AI will give you a serious edge. Here are five AI tools every PR student should test-drive before tossing that graduation cap.
1. ChatGPT – Your Copywriting Sidekick
Use it for: Brainstorming headlines, writing pitches, drafting media statements
ChatGPT helps streamline writing tasks and overcome creative blocks. For example, say you need to pitch a client’s new eco-product launch—ChatGPT can help you generate multiple angles tailored to journalists’ beats or outlets’ styles.
Pro Tip: Always fact-check and personalize before using any output. AI is powerful, but not infallible.
📌 Try it: https://chat.openai.com
2. Canva Magic Write – Visuals Meet Copy
Use it for: Social media posts, content planning, and campaign visuals
Canva’s Magic Write, part of its AI suite, can help you ideate captions and draft campaign content within the design platform itself. Pair that with smart templates and you’ve got an end-to-end content machine.
Example: Use Magic Write to plan a week’s worth of Mental Health Awareness Month posts in Jellycat’s tone—then auto-generate visuals to match.
📌 Explore it here: Canva’s AI tools
3. Meltwater – AI-Powered Media Monitoring
Use it for: Tracking brand mentions, analyzing sentiment, spotting crises
Meltwater uses machine learning to process news and social media content in real time. This means you can monitor how a brand is being perceived and react quickly.
Why it matters: Understanding how audiences respond to messages is critical—and increasingly, that analysis starts with AI.
📌 Learn more: Meltwater Media Intelligence
4. Lately.ai – Social Media Post Generator
Use it for: Turning long-form content (like blogs or interviews) into bite-sized, on-brand social posts
Instead of manually pulling quotes from a podcast or event, Lately.ai automatically generates dozens of post drafts with hashtags and tone analysis. It’s a huge time-saver and helps build consistency across platforms.
Fun fact: According to MarTech, Lately’s AI model was trained on over 1 million posts.
📌 Explore Lately: https://www.lately.ai
5. DALL·E – Visual Storytelling Reinvented
Use it for: Creating original illustrations, mockups, and campaign concepts
AI-generated images can boost your pitch decks, mood boards, or even social media campaigns. Imagine presenting a conceptual ad campaign to a client with visuals generated in minutes.
Caution: Always check copyright and terms if you’re using images in a public-facing campaign.
📌 Try DALL·E inside ChatGPT or at: https://openai.com/dall-e
Final Thoughts:
Learning these tools isn’t just about efficiency—it’s about future-proofing your skills. PR pros who know how to work with AI will be able to move faster, think more strategically, and deliver deeper insights. That doesn’t mean ditching human creativity—it means enhancing it.
🔗 Want to dig deeper into AI and PR? Check out this piece on AI prompts in communications
🔗 For broader trends, read Muck Rack’s 2024 State of PR Report
AI and Communications 
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