Abstract
The South African landscape, characterized by decolonial dialogue, continuous social movement and unrest, job security concerns, and a high unemployment rate, requires an artificial intelligence (AI) adoption strategy to narrow social and digital divides and address socioeconomic issues. South Africa should capitalize on AI’s ability to be tailored to specific needs toward developing localized AI solutions (South African government’s National Artificial Intelligence (AI) planning draft discussion document, 2024). AI is regarded as a superior approach to sense-making, and public relations (PR) and communication professionals are best suited to navigate this space as they are “cheerleaders for new, potentially controversial strategies… their professional habitus is defined by optimism and futurity” (Bourne, 2019).