Could this be how we break PR’s class ceiling?

There’s been a huge amount of conversation recently around AI and the future of junior roles in PR – ranging from whether the AE will still exist next year, to whether the role just needs to evolve. Sentiment has centred around whether it’s something junior talent should fear, or something they should be excited about.

There are also very real concerns around job displacement, environmental impact and the risk of devaluing junior talent. And, as someone who spends a lot of time talking about inequality and working class representation, I’m very aware of the contradiction here, because the same communities often excluded from professional opportunity are also disproportionately affected by the consequences of climate change and economic instability. This all matters and we can’t ignore that context.

But I’ve also been thinking about whether there’s another side to this debate that our industry isn’t really talking about yet – class and access. For young people from working class backgrounds, professional environments can often feel completely alien when you first enter them. They certainly did for me when I rocked-up to the BBC press office aged 21.

A deeply uncomfortable reality

If you haven’t grown up around people working in PR, media, advertising or other professional jobs, there are countless things other young people from more privileged backgrounds, coming into the workplace, just seem to instinctively know. Not because they’re more naturally talented, but because they’ve been in close proximity to professional people, workplaces, language and behaviours their entire lives.

A huge amount of success in industries like ours isn’t just skill. It’s inherited knowledge and contacts. These include what to many may seem like basic skills, such as:

• Knowing how to structure a CV.
• Knowing what “good” looks like.
• Knowing how to ask for opportunities.
• Knowing who to ask for an intro.
• Knowing how to negotiate your salary.
• Knowing how meetings work.
• Knowing what to wear.
• Knowing how to write an email that sounds “professional”.
• Knowing which questions feel safe to ask.

I remember entering professional spaces and feeling like everyone else had somehow been given a handbook I’d missed out on. And if I’m honest, I don’t think I really shook off that feeling until quite recently.

For people who haven’t grown up around those environments, learning these things can be deeply uncomfortable. You spend a lot of time trying not to expose what you don’t know.

A private sounding board

This is where I think AI potentially becomes more interesting and more complicated than the current “AI will replace junior talent” narrative allows for. Because for some young people, AI could act as a kind of private sounding board, when you don’t have one in real life.

• A way to sense-check an email before sending it.
• A way to ask the “stupid” question you don’t feel comfortable asking out loud.
• A way to understand terminology, expectations or workplace norms without fear of embarrassment.
• A way to get guidance on a CV or interview preparation if you don’t have professional people around you to help.

All this stuff matters, and can make the difference between getting an opportunity (for a job, for a promotion) or not getting it.

Particularly in an industry that still talks a lot about diversity and inclusion, while remaining heavily shaped by class, confidence and connections.

The PR industry often frames success as meritocratic, something you just have to work hard for. And of course you do have to work hard. But the reality is that some people arrive with years of informal coaching already behind them, while others are trying to decode the rules in real time while pretending they already understand them. And to be honest, it’s completely exhausting.

Humans, first

That doesn’t mean AI replaces human development, mentorship or proper training. It doesn’t and absolutely shouldn’t. Anyone who thinks AI can fully replace genuinely good PR work is probably delivering mediocre work at best.

AI can’t replace judgement, creativity, emotional intelligence, cultural understanding or experience. It can’t replace human strategic judgement. It can’t replace the instinct that helps great, experienced communicators know what will resonate with real people. And it certainly can’t replace managers who have made no effort to understand the cultural nuances and support needed for employees from working class backgrounds.

But, it might reduce some of the invisible barriers that have existed in our industry for decades. The barriers that haven’t changed one bit in the 20+ years since I got my first PR job.

If the industry is worried about AI replacing junior talent, it should also ask why so much junior talent currently succeeds or fails based on access to inherited professional knowledge in the first place.

For me, the most interesting conversation isn’t whether AI will change junior roles in PR. It’s whether AI could finally be the thing that breaks PR’s class ceiling, and how we balance that opportunity with the very real ethical and environmental concerns that come with it.