In Brief: Majority of PR Pros Using AI, Survey Finds

More than three-quarters of public relations professionals use generative AI in their work, Muck Rack’s “State of AI in PR 2026” report finds. At 76%, the share of PR pros using AI remains mostly unchanged from last year.

In a December survey of 564 public relations professionals, a small minority of respondents, 7%, said they don’t use generative AI and don’t plan to start. Among PR professionals who avoid using AI, 56% said the technology is overhyped, while 41% called AI tools risky.

Other key findings from Muck Rack’s “State of AI in PR 2026” report:

• 74% use AI to write and create content. 
• 86% use AI to edit and refine their work. 
• 82% say generative AI improves the quality of their work.
• 98% say they always or often edit the texts that AI generates for them, but the proportion of AI content that PR pros believe needs editing has fallen to less than half, or 45%. 

Meetings, Switching Apps Interrupt Work Focus, Data Suggests

Distracted by meetings and messages, the average employee now focuses on work for just 2–3 hours per day, according to Hubstaff, a company that helps employers track their workers’ time. 

Hubstaff defines “focus time” as periods of work uninterrupted by meetings, messages, or switching between technology tools. Hybrid-work teams reported the lowest share of uninterrupted work, at 31% of their workdays, compared to 45% for in-office teams. Managers and team leaders averaged just 27% of their hours doing focused work.

According to Hubstaff’s analysis of more than 140,000 employees’ workdays across 17,000 organizations, the average worker now sits in twice as many meetings than just two years ago and uses an average of 18 different apps every day.

“Teams aren’t failing at productivity; they’re working in systems that constantly disrupt focus,” said Jared Brown, Hubstaff’s CEO. If leaders want better performance from their teams, “they need to treat focus time as a core operating principle, not simply a personal responsibility.”

Is Letter-Writing Making a Comeback?

Weary of digital devices, some young people are starting to write letters, the Associated Press reports. More than quaint throwbacks, ink and paper are once again bringing people together. 

Melissa Bobbitt, 42, is a devoted letter-writer who corresponds with about a dozen people from her home in Claremont, Calif. “I feel as though my pen pals are my friends,” she said.

Stephania Kontopanos, a 21-year-old student in Chicago, consciously unplugs from digital devices by sending postcards to her family and friends. For KiKi Klassen, 28, who lives in Ontario, Canada, writing and sending letters is nostalgic and makes her feel connected to her late mother, who was a member of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.

Bobbitt, who has corresponded by mail for years, feels a “grand excitement” when she opens her mailbox and finds a letter from a friend. 

And as Chief Executive notes, “In an age of automation and instant communication, choosing a pen might seem small. It is not. A handwritten note carries time, intention, proof that someone stopped long enough to care. It says something no mass message can: You matter to me personally.” 

Youngest Workers Unhappy about Returning to Office

About one-third of all U.S. firms now require employees to work in the office full time. But many employees, especially younger ones, don’t want to report to an office every day, CNBC reports. Experts say this clash could leave employees, particularly top performers, burned out, disengaged and looking for new jobs.

Together, Generation Z and millennials, born 1981–2012, make up more than half of the U.S. labor force. Just 6% of Gen Z employees want to work fully in-person, along with 4% of millennials, 9% of Gen X, and 10% of baby boomers, according to Gallup data. Some 71% of Gen Z employees cite hybrid work, a blend of remote and in-office days, as their top choice.

But amid weak hiring and an increase in long-term unemployment, workers are becoming more accustomed to being back in the office full time, even if they’re unhappy about it. Executives argue that working on-site, the norm before the pandemic, boosts efficiency, creativity and culture.