Month: July 2024

Research: Dirty Data Hinders AI, Impacting Enterprise and PR

Posted on by Mark Macias
AI might be dominating the news but don’t assume you can use it to create an effective PR or media strategy.

AI might be dominating the news but don’t assume it’s going to shake up your industry in the near future. 

Over the weekend, several prominent news publications, including the NY Times, reported on new research that concluded there isn’t enough quality data to train generative AI for enterprise. It’s disappearing and as a result, startups can’t find the quality data to train their machines.

Dirty Data is Hurting AI’s Growth

The study found publishers are no longer assisting with the advancements of AI, and as a result, the data is getting messier. More specifically, publishers are blocking web crawlers from pulling quality data used by companies like OpenAI and Google.

Four years ago, I wrote an article for Forbes that explained why AI wouldn’t work in PR and media strategy in the near future. (You can read the article here). I explained how no one is collecting real time news data, and even if an enterprise startup began gathering it, that data would be outdated within 24 hours.

Machine learning needs quality data to learn and without that, AI can’t effectively produce a strategy based on real-time quality data. Think about the big news story over the weekend with President Biden pulling out of the presidential race. The news changed by the minute.

It’s pretty much the same conclusions published in the news stories over the weekend. 

How AI Impacts PR

So what does this mean for your publicity or media campaigns? Don’t fall for the hype. If someone says they’re using AI to generate your media campaign, question them. Yes, generative AI is helping with content creation but AI can’t understand strategy without data to teach it. And right now, there is no data for that.

Every successful media strategy still needs timely news elements to generate coverage. In addition, the best PR publicists will leverage intuition, critical thinking and creativity in real-time. That’s the key phrase – real time. If any enterprise did begin collecting news data in real time, it would be outdated in a few hours. If the data is old or unreliable, the tool is useless.

Are you looking for new ways to leverage your data for news coverage? Message me if you’d like to brainstorm over new angles.

ABOUT MACIAS PR

MACIAS PR was founded in 2009 by Mark Macias – an Executive Producer with NBC and Senior Producer with CBS in New York. City & State Magazine named Macias one of the top 50 best PR pros in New York in 2022 and 2024. Finance Monthly named MACIAS PR the 2017-2020 Strategic PR Firm of the Year, and PR Firm of the Year. Message us if you’d like to get a customized strategy.

How to Sabotage a Brand on Day One

Posted on by Mark Macias

Are you sabotaging your own brand? Building a brand from scratch is never easy. But, there are missteps that can make your path more difficult. It’s hard enough standing out as a startup. But if you make these mistakes — from my perspective -— you are sabotaging your brand on day one.

Don’t Turn Down Media Interviews because of the Publication Size

If you’re a startup, you should be accepting all media opportunities — big and small. You haven’t earned the right to be picky. Your story hasn’t been told as a startup and every media opportunity is a chance to scale your brand. These news stories also help your website with SEO.

In addition, MSN, Yahoo and others frequently pick up stories from smaller news outlets and publish them on their home page. And I’m not talking about stories appearing in Google News or Yahoo News. I’m describing stories where Yahoo News places its logo on the story and syndicates it to readers who have a specific interest in this topic. Think Yahoo Lifestyle or MSN Money. If you look there today, you will see many stories from smaller publications featured prominently.

Continue reading “How to Sabotage a Brand on Day One” →