[Commlist] CfA: Artificial Intelligence and Communication in Europe – Literacy, Creativity, and Human Labour // Communications: The European Journal of Communication Research

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS

Artificial Intelligence and Communication in Europe – Literacy, 
Creativity, and Human Labour

Communications: The European Journal of Communication Research
Special Issue co-edited by Cristina Ponte (Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, 
Portugal), Philippe J. Maarek (UPEC, France), and Leen d’Haenens (KU 
Leuven, Belgium).

Europe is experiencing a rapid AI-driven transformation of 
communication. Generative AI (e.g., large language and image models) and 
predictive AI (e.g., recommendation algorithms) are now embedded in 
media, culture, and everyday life. For example, recent reviews note that 
AI tools like ChatGPT support every stage of news production, reshaping 
editorial workflows, while also generating new ethical and human labour 
concerns. Journalists have reported AI-powered surveillance systems that 
collect unprecedented volumes of data on citizens. AI‑driven targeted 
messaging has enabled political actors to personalize communication at 
an unprecedented scale, while at the same time, AI has been extensively 
used for disinformation, deepfakes, and algorithmic amplification of 
misleading content. The latter use of AI has particularly contributed to 
a new kind of Cold War against Western democracies. In response, 
European policymakers and educators emphasize digital and AI literacy 
for all citizens. This Special Issue invites diverse scholarship 
examining how AI technologies affect communication processes, media 
practices, and social and political life across Europe. We especially 
seek people-centered and comparative perspectives on AI’s role in 
communication, drawing on interdisciplinary methods.

Thematic scope

This issue welcomes contributions that explore the social, cultural, and 
political dimensions of AI in European communication contexts. Topics of 
interest include but are not limited to: AI and digital literacy; AI’s 
role in sustainability and green communication; AI-driven innovation in 
creative industries; AI’s part in internal political communication as 
well as between European countries. We invite studies of how generative 
AI tools (e.g., for text, audio or image creation) and predictive 
systems (e.g., recommender algorithms, automated content moderation) 
transform media and artistic practices. Critical analyses of AI-induced 
deskilling and reskilling of creative and communicative labor are 
encouraged. Contributions may examine systemic and personal risks: e.g., 
algorithmic bias, privacy violations, misinformation, surveillance, 
impacts on mental health as well as AI’s implications for work. In 
particular, we welcome research on AI’s effects on employment in the 
creative and media industries, the gig or platform economy, and emerging 
human-machine interfaces such as brain-computer interaction. European 
policy and regulatory contexts (e.g., the EU’s AI Act, media regulation) 
and the metaphors embedded in public discourses on AI are also highly 
relevant. We encourage
theoretical and empirical submissions (quantitative, qualitative or 
mixed methods) and especially those offering European or comparative 
perspectives (acknowledging that much existing scholarship is 
concentrated in a few countries).

This Special Issue is open to innovative approaches from communication, 
media studies, philosophy, sociology, political science, cultural 
studies, design research and related fields. In the spirit of recent 
Communications calls, we welcome both established and early-career 
researchers.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:
- AI and literacy/education: Digital, media, and AI literacy among 
European youth and educators; curriculum development for AI; 
participatory media projects on AI.
- AI and sustainability: AI in environmental communication; green 
technology literacy; AI for climate change awareness and action; “green” 
AI and media sustainability.
- AI in creativity: Use of AI in artistic and cultural production (film, 
music, design, visual arts, literature); AI-assisted creativity; 
questions of authorship, aesthetics, and authenticity.
- Automation and deskilling: How AI automates creative or communicative 
tasks; effects on professional roles in journalism, design, advertising, 
film, etc.; new skills and competencies required.
- Risks and harms: Algorithmic bias and discrimination; data privacy and 
consent; manipulation; misinformation, deepfakes and their potential for 
abuse in the political communication process; surveillance capitalism; 
personal autonomy; mental health and social well-being’s troubles in 
AI-mediated communication.
- Ethics: Principles of transparency, fairness, inclusivity, 
accountability, reliability, responsibility, and explainability; 
generative morality; integrative ethics.
- Human labour and work: Impacts of AI on labour in creative/media 
industries, the platform economy, and knowledge work; precarity and 
exploitation on AI-driven platforms; unionizing and collective action in 
AI-era workplaces.
- Human-machine interaction: Interfaces and devices that mediate 
communication (including brain–computer interfaces, virtual/augmented 
reality, chatbots and agents) and their implications for identity and 
social interaction, including uses of AI as new warfare tools.
- Media and journalism: Deployment of generative and predictive AI in 
newsrooms, fact-checking, and content curation; effects on journalistic 
norms, audience engagement, and the public’s right to information.
- Policy, regulation, and discourse: European AI governance, media 
regulation, and ethics frameworks; public debates and communication 
around AI; cross-national comparisons of AI policies.
- Methodological and theoretical innovation: Interdisciplinary, critical 
or historical studies of AI; novel research methods (e.g., design 
research, human-centered AI studies, computational methods) applied to 
communication questions.

Contributions are expected to foreground European experiences or 
comparative analyses that include Europe. We welcome submissions from 
diverse disciplinary and methodological backgrounds: for example, 
cultural analysis, political economy, design research, ethnography, 
surveys, experiments, computational approaches, as long as they address 
the human and communicative dimensions of AI. As with previous 
Communications Special Issues, we are interested in conceptual 
frameworks as well as empirical insights.

Submission procedure and timeline

Authors should submit a 600-700 word abstract outlining the central 
issue or research question, the theoretical or methodological approach, 
and anticipated conclusions or contributions. Abstracts (in English) 
should be emailed to the guest editors at (comm.special.issue /at/ gmail.com) 
by March 31, 2026. We encourage clear and inclusive language that will 
appeal to a wide academic readership. Prospective authors may contact 
the editors in advance to discuss their proposals. Decisions on 
abstracts will be communicated by April 30, 2026. Invitations to submit 
full papers will be issued shortly thereafter. Invited manuscripts (full 
papers) will be due by August 31, 2026 and should be prepared according 
to the journal’s author guidelines. All submissions will undergo peer 
review under Communications’ standard double-blind process. The 
invitation to submit a full article does not guarantee acceptance. We 
anticipate that the Special Issue will be published in autumn 2027. 
There will be no publication fee.

For inquiries or further information, please contact one of the guest 
editors: Prof. Cristina Ponte ((cristina.ponte /at/ fcsh.unl.pt)), Prof. 
Philippe J. Maarek ((p.j.maarek /at/ gmail.com)), or Prof. Leen d’Haenens 
((leen.dhaenens /at/ kuleuven.be)). We look forward to your submissions and to 
advancing the conversation on AI and communication in Europe.

Timeline: Abstract deadline March 31, 2026; notification by April 30, 
2026; full paper submission by August 31, 2026.

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