Story & Strategy, Texas Tech Host Forum on AI's Impact on Communications Profession
Irving, Texas — More than 60 professionals and students gathered in person and online Thursday for a conversation about AI and the future of the communications profession, hosted by Story & Strategy and Texas Tech University’s College of Media & Communication.
The event featured Bob Hutchins, Ph.D., a communications educator and researcher based in Nashville, who challenged attendees to move beyond both the enthusiasm and anxiety surrounding generative AI and instead focus on intentional, practical use of the technology.
Held at the Texas Tech’s DFW Center and streamed online, the session marked the third installment of a four-part series designed to help public relations and communications professionals navigate rapid changes reshaping the industry. The program was created to bring practitioners, educators and students together for conversations about emerging trends and the skills needed to lead through them.
Throughout his presentation, Dr. Hutchins acknowledged the tension many communicators feel as AI tools become more sophisticated and more deeply embedded in daily workflows.
“There’s a lot of excitement about this new, amazing world that we’re going to be able to automate so many things,” Dr. Hutchins said. “And there’s also a lot of concerns, but I always try to look for the third way. That’s just using the tool where it helps, because it can help, check what it can’t do and decide on purpose where the saved time goes.”
Rather than viewing AI as either a threat or a solution to every problem, Dr. Hutchins encouraged attendees to adopt a more disciplined approach. He noted that many professionals are spending significant amounts of time experimenting with multiple AI platforms only to discover that the technology can sometimes create new inefficiencies.
“There is this tendency that if we’re not careful, it becomes one more distraction,” Dr. Hutchins said. “There’s so many things that I’m discovering I can do with AI, but there’s so many things that I don’t need to use AI for.”
His remarks resonated with a room filled with practitioners who are increasingly being asked to integrate AI into communications planning, content creation and stakeholder engagement while also managing concerns about accuracy and ethics.
The discussion also explored a common misconception around artificial intelligence. Dr. Hutchins emphasized that many conversations about AI today are actually conversations about a specific category of technology.
“These are large language models,” he said. “AI is a term I don’t really care for because, when people say AI today, they’re talking about generative AI. They’re talking about language models for the most part.”
Attendees discussed the growing expectations placed on communicators to understand AI capabilities while continuing to provide the judgment, context and trust-building that technology cannot replicate. The conversation touched on ethical considerations, data privacy, organizational adoption and the evolving role of strategic communicators as AI becomes a standard workplace tool.
Opening the event, organizers noted that AI is already being integrated into enterprise platforms and workflows across industries, creating both opportunities and challenges for organizations. The session was designed to give participants a deeper understanding of how those changes are affecting communications professionals specifically and how they can adapt responsibly.
As organizations continue to experiment with generative AI, speakers and attendees agreed on one point: the future of communications will belong to professionals who understand the technology well enough to use it strategically, not simply adopt it automatically.
Editor’s note: Quotes have been edited lightly for clarity while maintaining their original meaning.
