Artificial intelligence (AI) tools are not necessarily ‘new.’ However, recent advances in generative AI—including large-language models (LLMs) for naturalistic conversations (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude) and image generators (e.g., Midjourney, DALL·E)—have raised almost fanatical scholarly interest in using and studying AI. How can communication scholars meaningfully contribute amid this onslaught? An easy response is to apply Reeves and Nass’ (1996) CASA approach, considering AI as a receiver in the media equation as AI takes in messages and provides feedback. But communication scholars can (and should) go further, considering different roles for AI in our models and scholarship. This talk explores some alternate uses and roles of AI in communication science, including as gatekeeper, confederate, and collaborator. Rather than jumping on the ‘new hotness bandwagon,’ let’s talk about how great scholarship can involve and engage AI in a thoughtful, careful manner that will transcend the current moment and meaningfully contribute to communication science for years to come.
About the Presenter:
Caleb T. Carr (PhD, Michigan State University) is a Professor of Communication. His research addresses how new media alter communicative processes, including how social media are used to create and maintain identity online, for organizational uncertainty reduction, and in group collaborations. His scholarship has appeared in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Human Communication Research, and Media Psychology. He serves as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, as the incoming editor of the Journal of Media Psychology, on several editorial boards, and is the former chair of the Communication and Technology (CAT) division of the International Communication Association. He has taught undergraduate and courses in computer-mediated communication, organizational communication, mass media theory and history, and management at Illinois State University, the University of Oklahoma, and Michigan State University. In his spare time, he reads, alpine skis, and is a devout Parrothead.
