The Task Exposure Indexv2026.Q3
Occupation · SOC 27-3031.00 · Job Zone 4

AI exposure: Public Relations Specialists

Promote or create an intended public image for individuals, groups, or organizations. May write or select material for release to various communications media. May specialize in using social media.

Reading this score

computed

56.1% of this occupation's weighted task load is exposed, which puts Public Relations Specialists at the 93th percentile of 923 occupations. The capability is largely there. Its average task scores 3.0 out of 4 on what a current system can produce, and the frictions that hold other jobs in place are comparatively weak here.

What holds the line here is context. Across this occupation's 18 tasks it averages 1.72 out of 3, the highest of the five friction dimensions. In plain terms, the work depends on knowledge the model cannot hold. Much of this job runs on things that were never written down: what this particular organisation does, what happened last week, what the person across the table actually meant. That context is the barrier, and it erodes as systems are given more access.

The most exposed thing this job does is Prepare or edit organizational publications, at 90.0%. The least is Coach client representatives in effective communication with the public or with employees, at 8.3%. A gap of 81.7% between two parts of the same job is the reason this index publishes at task level. An occupation-wide number would have hidden both.

Within arts, design, entertainment, sports and media occupations, this one is more exposed than most. The median across the 40 roles in the group is 36.4%, and only 5 of them score higher than this. Occupational families are not uniform, and the spread inside them is often wider than the gap between them.

What would move this score. Of 18 tasks, 15 are currently banded exposed, 1 assisted and 2 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take systems being given deeper access to the organisation's own records and history, which is already happening. The score is re-computed every quarter against a fresh capability reference, and the change is published rather than quietly applied.

Task by task

18 tasks, O*NET 31.0
TaskExposedAssistedUntouchedImportanceBand
Prepare or edit organizational publications, such as employee newsletters or stockholders' reports, for internal or external audiences.90.0%10.0%0.0%3.90exposed
Develop plans or materials to communicate organizational activities that are beneficial to the environment, public safety, or other important social issues.86.7%13.3%0.0%3.76exposed
Respond to requests for information from the media or designate an appropriate spokesperson or information source.80.0%20.0%0.0%4.55exposed
Post and update content on the company's Web site and social media outlets.80.0%20.0%0.0%4.41exposed
Write press releases or other media communications to promote clients.80.0%20.0%0.0%4.38exposed
Plan or direct development or communication of programs to maintain favorable public or stockholder perceptions of an organization's accomplishments, agenda, or environmental responsibility.60.0%15.0%25.0%4.41exposed
Study the objectives, promotional policies, or needs of organizations to develop public relations strategies that will influence public opinion or promote ideas, products, or services.60.0%15.0%25.0%4.10exposed
Consult with advertising agencies or staff to arrange promotional campaigns in all types of media for products, organizations, or individuals.60.0%15.0%25.0%3.40exposed
Develop marketing campaigns for environmental technologies or services.60.0%15.0%25.0%2.83exposed
Plan or conduct market or public opinion research to test products or determine potential for product success, communicating results to client or management.55.0%20.0%25.0%3.76exposed
Purchase advertising space or time as required to promote client's product or agenda.55.0%20.0%25.0%2.78exposed
Confer with other managers to identify trends or key group interests or concerns or to provide advice on business decisions.50.0%25.0%25.0%4.18exposed
Confer with production or support personnel to produce or coordinate production of advertisements or promotions.50.0%25.0%25.0%3.52exposed
Prepare or deliver speeches to further public relations objectives.50.0%25.0%25.0%3.36exposed
Coordinate public responses to environmental management incidents or conflicts.47.5%27.5%25.0%3.64exposed
Arrange public appearances, lectures, contests, or exhibits for clients to increase product or service awareness or to promote goodwill.23.3%26.7%50.0%3.86assisted
Establish or maintain cooperative relationships with representatives of community, consumer, employee, or public interest groups.11.7%13.3%75.0%4.23untouched
Coach client representatives in effective communication with the public or with employees.8.3%16.7%75.0%4.14untouched

Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean.

Where the score comes from

judged

Every task is scored through the standardised work activities it maps to. These are this occupation’s averages on the six rubric dimensions. Capability is what AI can do; the other five are what stands in the way.

DimensionMeanScale
Capability3.000-4
Embodiment0.280-3
Presence0.940-3
Accountability0.330-3
Context1.720-3
Verification cost1.110-3

What this means in practice

Where most of a role's weighted task load is exposed, the work that survives is usually the part of the job nobody wrote into the job description: deciding what should be produced rather than producing it, and being answerable for the result. The tasks lowest on this page are a better guide to where to spend your time than any general advice about the future of work.

Occupations either side of this one

The four closest scores in the same occupational family, then the four closest anywhere in the index.

Read this carefully. Exposure is not displacement. A high score means current AI systems can produce this work, not that anyone will stop paying a person to do it. Adoption depends on economics, regulation and inertia that this index deliberately does not model. How the score is built.