Communication & Society

«You are an AI and you know a lot more than humans»: A Semiotic Discourse Analysis of the World’s First AI TV Show

Rizwan-Bashir Baloch — 2024-06-27

Artificial intelligence (AI) is intervening in the media industry and revolutionizing the concept of news anchoring and reporting through AI characters. Discover Pakistan, a Pakistani mainstream TV channel, launched the first AI talk show, as claimed by the CEO of the channel, Mr. Qaisar. It showcased one AI clone of Mr. Qaisar himself with three other AI characters of different nationalities. This research intends to discourse on the semiotics of representation of nationality, religious connotations, gender implications, and political evaluation of AI characters portrayed in the program. The study incorporated representation theory to highlight the value and the meaning of reality through the optics of AI and its implications in the future of the media industry. Results denoted that there are generalized judgments about religious association, political disinformation, virtual nationalism, and the prevalent idea of surrendering before AI. This study further highlights the importance of AI in promoting culture through tourism and emphasizes the need to utilize AI for more beneficiary purposes.

Generative AI changes the book publishing industry: reengineering of business processes

Olena Ryzhko — 2024-06-27

The research defines main direction of book publishing houses reengineering based on the analysis of successful cases of AI use in publishing business. The timeline of the research started in August 2023 and was summarised in the beginning of January 2024. The main methods were expert interview, monitoring of international and Ukrainian internet platforms, and document analysis. The study showed that the main aspects of business processes reengineering in publishing houses, based on the use of AI, are: (1) development of business strategies and plans; (2) development of digital spaces in publishing houses; (3) emerging of new professions; (4) discussions and their summaries; (5) received manuscripts check; (6) finding plagiarism; (7) preparation of creative, advertising, and presentation materials; (8) working with numbers and databases. The recommendations on the use of AI in business processes are extracted from the policies of the organisations connected with the book publishing industry. They are presented in the convenient table for further use.

One of the study results showed that Ukrainian publishing houses discuss the capabilities of AI for generating different types and formats of content, and based on that, AI capabilities for reengineering are considered. One of the biggest challenges, created by AI, is that the technology develops faster than people can perceive so they struggle to describe the technology itself and its impact. It means that we should adjust to the changes, caused by exponential development of AI, finding resources to overcome unequal access to AI capabilities in the process of specialists’ preparation.

The Ethical Revolution: Challenges and Reflections in the Face of the Integration of Artificial Intelligence in Digital Journalism

Tania Forja-Pena — 2024-06-27

The artificial intelligence (AI) tools in editorial departments have become common practice within news organisations, which poses challenges for digital journalism. It treads new terrain for both media professionals and their audiences, and it is safe to assume there is no going back to the way things were. These advances in the field require new frameworks and codes of ethics that include ethical principles to mitigate the use of AI in journalism. The fast incorporation of AI into media production processes is marked by a tendency towards the loss of citizens’ trust in the information that media offers, political polarization, and the increasing impact of misinformation. This article analyses the perception of communication professionals in this new scene through the analysis of 99 codes of ethics and 14 international press associations. In addition, audience perception is addressed through a survey taken by nearly 2,000 people. The results indicate that both the public and journalists are worried about misinformation that AI might cause and the potential erosion of trust between journalist and the public . Overwhelmingly, people are advocating for external regulation of its use to preserve the values, the ethical principles, and good practices of journalistic work.

Seeking to define deepfakes from U.S. state laws

João-Paulo Meneses — 2024-06-27

In six years, the word deepfake has gone from a niche on Reddit to the main object of research for hundreds of researchers and to the front line of concern of many policymakers. However, this transition did not lead to a faithful definition because it is still an in-flux technology. There is one sector, however, that is incompatible with vague and equivocal concepts: legislative production. In this study, we analysed the definitions of deepfakes (or synthetic media) in the laws of five states in the United States and proposed the key concepts that characterise them: artificial intelligence, fake/false and the reference (specific or generic) to the media that can support these deepfakes.

Automation and creativity in AI-driven film editing: the view from the professional documentary sector

Jorge Caballero — 2024-06-27

This article explores the impact of integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into film editing, a field that has gradually adopted semi- and fully automated techniques, marking a turning point in film narrative and montage techniques. The study undertakes a systematic literature review and conducts fifteen semi-structured interviews with professional film editors in Spain to investigate how AI might transform workflows in film editing, in general, and documentary filmmaking, in particular. AI’s potential as a complementary tool in the management and organization of large volumes of material is discussed, while growing interest is highlighted in the development of more interactive, more dynamic interfaces. Finally, the study stresses the need for future research to broaden its current scope, further exploring the practical applications of AI-driven film editing and addressing both the ethical and creative concerns associated with its use.