ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Artif. Intell.
Sec. AI in Business
Volume 8 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frai.2025.1662219
Mediating Role of Digital Ethics on the Impact of Artificial Intelligence Usage and Public Relations Practices: Evidence from Malaysia
Provisionally accepted
- 1Multimedia University - Cyberjaya Campus, Cyberjaya, Malaysia
- 2INTI International University, Nilai, Malaysia
- 3Telkom University, Bandung, Indonesia
- 4Amity University Haryana-Gurugram, Gurugram, India
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The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has led to great advancement in the field of Public Relations (PR); however, the organisations are still unsure about the ethical consequences of this new technology. This study aims to examine the effect of AI usage on PR practices by examining the mediating role of Digital Ethics. The study used a cross-sectional quantitative method. The data was collected through structured survey questionnaires from PR practitioners in a Malaysian setting. Mediation analysis was run using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and PROCESS macro-Model 4. The results showcased that AI Usage has a significant impact on PR practices, while Digital Ethics further mediates the relationship, suggesting that AI, when employed ethically, assists in efficient PR practices. This work fills a critical gap in the literature regarding the role of digital ethics in the landscape of AI usage for performing PR activities. The study extends the Excellence Theory scholarship into an AI-driven ethical context. The findings offer a crucial incentive for organisations to introduce robust ethical guidelines into their AI-driven PR strategies. The study suggests that by being aware and readily employing Digital Ethical practices, PR practitioners can not only increase their productivity but also safeguard their organisations against the potential ethical threats posed by AI. Keywords: Public Relations Practice, Artificial Intelligence Usage, Digital Ethics, Excellence Theory of Public Relations, Strategic Communication Management
Keywords: Public relations practice, Artificial intelligence usage, Digital ethics, Excellence Theory of Public Relations, Strategic communication management
Received: 10 Jul 2025; Accepted: 03 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Khalid, Ahmad, Chan, PRADANA and Singh. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Umaima Khalid, 1221404030@student.mmu.edu.my
Mokhtarrudin Ahmad, mokhtarrudin@mmu.edu.my
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.