[Commlist] Call for Book Chapters: "Artificial intelligence and human perception: media discourse and public opinion"

Call for book chapters: "Artificial intelligence and human perception: 
media discourse and public opinion"  

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been the subject of academic research 
for decades. It is a key issue in the fields of Computer Science and 
Information Technology, while attracting the attention of other fields 
due to its pervasive nature. Social studies discussed its economic, 
social, political, military, and geopolitical implications - 
particularly regarding China’s ambition to become an AI leading power. 
Media scholars questioned the ‘intelligence’ of machines (Natale, 2021) 
and the ‘novelty’ of digital media in general (Balbi, 2022). The 
humanities have engaged with philosophical, ethical, and legal issues 
related to AI’s development, focusing on both the challenges and 
benefits that technology could bring to human life (Floridi, 2022).

Since the release of ChatGPT for the public, AI has become one of the 
most publicly debated topics, raising questions about its effects on 
labour, warfare, human-machine interaction, sustainability, and human 
cognition and creativity, to name a few. However, despite the growing 
impact of AI on every aspect of daily life, what do non-specialists 
understand about AI, and how do they feel about it? 

With a few exceptions (Brennen et al. 2018; Cave et al., 2018; Chuan et 
al., 2022; Maas, 2023; Mao/Shi-Kupfer, 2021; Robertson/Maccarone, 2023; 
Zeng et al., 2022), discursive aspects of the phenomenon are still 
vastly unexplored – especially in a contrastive perspective. 
Institutional and media narratives play a crucial role in shaping public 
perception of political and social phenomena. Arguably, their influence 
is even more significant when specialised subjects are concerned, that 
are difficult to grasp for non-experts. Rhetorical devices such as 
metaphors, frames, and argumentative structures are therefore used to 
simplify complex issues and make them more accessible to the public. 
However, the use of such devices can also influence the public’s 
emotional response to the topic being discussed.  

For example, a news article about a new AI technology may use metaphors 
such as ‘the rise of the machines’ to create a sense of fear or anxiety 
among the public, or frame AI as a ‘threat to jobs’, creating a negative 
perception of the technology. Conversely, utopian narratives can present 
the era of Artificial intelligence as one rich with opportunities, where 
humans save time and resources by letting the machines work for them, 
and where AI applications solve social and individual 
problems. Understanding the impact of media narratives on public 
perception of AI is crucial for developing effective communication 
strategies and promoting a nuanced understanding of the technology. 

Given the extensive media attention that AI has received in recent 
years, this book aims to explore the impact that institutional and media 
narratives can have on the public perception of this phenomenon in 
different national contexts. To this end, the volume aims at 
establishing an interdisciplinary dialogue between discourse analysis 
and other social sciences, with specific regard to studies that take 
into consideration the measurement of public perception of Artificial 
intelligence, for example through opinion polls, questionnaires, content 
analysis etc. Therefore, contributions from different perspectives and 
scientific fields in the humanities and social sciences are welcome. 

***Proposals that reflect on (but are not limited to) the following 
topics are encouraged: 
- Media discourse on AI 
- Political and institutional discourse on AI 
- Ethics of AI and the public sphere 
- Measuring public perception of AI (opinion polls, content analysis, 
social media analysis, sentiment analysis)
- The discourse on the impact of AI on creativity/literature/pedagogy 
- The discourse on human-machine relations 
- Contrastive analysis on AI narratives   

Researchers are invited to submit a chapter proposal of 1,000 words 
(plus references) in English to Paolo Orrù ((paolo.orru /at/ unica.it)) and 
Emma Lupano ((emma.lupano /at/ unica.it)). The volume will be published in open 
access in the series "Methods and perspectives. Studies in Linguistics, 
Philology and Literature", FrancoAngeli (http://francoangeli.it). 

***Timeline:
- Submission of proposals: 9 June 2024 
- Notification of acceptance: 24 June 2024 
- Submsission of accepted chapters: 15 September 2024 
- Peer reviews: 15 October 2024 
- Submission of final chapters (after revision): 10 November 2024 
- Volume publication: 30 March 2024 

References

Balbi G. (2022). L’ultima delle ideologie. Bari-Roma: Laterza.

Brennen J. S. et al. (2018) „An Industry-Led Debate: How UK Media Cover 
Artificial Intelligence”. Factsheet 2018, Reuters Institute for the 
Study of Journalism, Oxford University.

Cave S. et al. (2018). “Portrayals and perception of AI and why they 
matter”. (DES5612)  

Chuan C., Tsai W. S., Cho S. Y. (2019). “Framing Artificial Intelligence 
in American Newspapers”. In Proceedings of AAAI/ACM Conference on 
Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, and Society (AIES’19). January 27-28, 
2019, Honolulu, HI, USA. ACM, New York, NY.

Floridi L. (2022). Etica dell’Intelligenza Artificiale. Milano: 
Raffaello Cortina Editore.  

Maas M. (2023). “AI il like…”. AI Foundations Report 2, Legal 
Priorities, October.

Mao Y., Shi-Kupfer K. (2021). “Online public discourse on artificial 
intelligence and ethics in China: context, content, and implications”. 
AI & SOCIETY.

Natale S. (2021). Deceitful Media. Artificial Intelligence and Social 
Life after the Turing Test. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Robertson A. / Maccarone M. (2023). “AI narratives and unequal 
conditions. Analyzing the discourse of liminal expert voices in 
discursive communicative spaces”. Telecommunications Policy 47(5)

Zeng J., Chan C-H., Schäfer M. S. (2022). “Contested Chinese dreams of 
AI? Public discourse about artificial intelligence on WeChat and 
People’s Daily online”. Information, Communication and Society, 25(3): 
319-340.
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