Public Relations practice appears to be one of the professions and subsectors that lag behind the most in adaptation and integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
This is the fallout of a masterclass Thursday, April 3, 2025, at the Rivers State headquarters of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) at the state secretariat in Port Harcourt.
Michael Adande, the resource person, said other sectors seem to have since adapted AI in doing their work.
Adande, who is the spokesman for Renaissance Africa, the firm that acquired SPDC onshore assets, said AI can help practitioners to predict scenarios, something that seems to be very difficult in the practice. He took the audience through how this could be done.
Adande, said to have applied AI in his work at the SPDC and one that has carried out extensive study of the subject, said most of the intricate tasks performed in the oil industry are carried out with the aid of AI.
For instance, he said pigging (cleaning of pipelines to free them from debris ad sludge), is now done by AI-driven gadgets that run through a pipe and clean it in a short moment unlike in the past when it was a difficult task that took long time.
Tracing the history of AI from 1956, Adande gave the different stages the tech has gone through and where it was headed. He described the present stage as Artificial Narrow Intelligence (ANI) which he said is about computers learning one branch of knowledge and specializing in it to gain the ability to answer any question or perform any command on that matter.
The expert called on companies and organisations to commission studies into how AI affects their work and their future, saying fears were already rife that AI may take away or take over jobs in the future.
Inviting the resource person to lead the masterclass, Jossy Nkwocha, chairman of the training and knowledge committee of the NIPR in the state and head of corporate communications in Indorama Nigeria, said Adande is a tested hand and an expert in the subject. He said it is important for members to understand how AI impacts their practice and practice.
Presenting the resource person, the moderator, Princewill Dike, once a student activist, said Adande had worked as Shell Spokesperson in Nigeria, a role he managed from September 2018, helping to design and to implement communications programmes for the Shell Companies in Nigeria, and being a part of the global Shell plc Group.
He added: “He is executive producer of the popular Renaissance-sponsored live radio discussion programme, Canvas: Niger Delta Roundtable, a broadcast across the Niger Delta via Radio Nigeria, Family Love FM and Wave FM, helping audiences be involved in finding solutions to issues of the region.
He said Adande was the Secretary of the NIPR Chapter in Warri from 2003 through 2004 and variously worked as Corporate Brand Adviser, Communications Adviser to the Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria, as the Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Netherlands Chamber of Commerce (NNCC) during which time he led the restructuring of the NNCC, as Editor of Shell World Nigeria quarterly magazine, as Coordinator of Shell Social Investment Partnerships, and as Adviser for Shell University Relations.”
Professionals asked questions mostly on what to do when AI is used to produce their bosses doing what the boss never actually did. The definition of Public Relations from AI perspective also attracted heated debate.
