A recent study led by Martina Skrubbeltrang Mahnke at Roskilde University, Denmark, sheds light on the influence of generative AI on organisational communication. Part of the research project “Strategizing Communication and Artificial Intelligence” (SCAI), the study underscores AI’s role as an interlocutory communicator, challenging human-centric approaches to organisational communication.
While artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming an indispensable component of organisations’ communication practices, little is known about how professional communicators interact and use the technology in their daily strategic endeavors.
Launched in 2022, the research project Strategizing Communication and Artificial Intelligence (SCAI) is poised to bridge the knowledge gap surrounding AI’s transformative impact on organisations’ communication. Spearheaded by scientists at Roskilde University in Denmark, the research project aims to unravel the far-reaching implications of AI on strategic communication, a domain increasingly characterised by routine practices with profound social, economic, and political ramifications.
As part of the SCAI project, a publication co-authored by Martina Skrubbeltrang Mahnke and Simon Karlin is in the pipeline. The paper, titled “This Changes Everything? Examining How Employees’ Use of Generative AI Alters Organizational Communication”, draws upon ethnographic fieldwork, a survey, and 14 in-depth semi-structured interviews. The study is set to offer a comprehensive analysis of the subject matter alluded to in its title.
– Our analysis reveals how the seemingly mundane, yet strategically significant applications of generative AI are progressively reshaping the complex tapestry of organisational communication through subtle interactions between humans and AI. Generative AI takes on the role of an interlocutory communicator, challenging human-centric approaches to organisational communication, elaborates the co-author of the study, Martina Skrubbeltrang Mahnke.
Photo: Roskilde University
The research paper is currently in preparation for the special issue, AI and Communication Practices, scheduled for publication in MedieKultur, a double-blind peer-reviewed journal published by SMID (Society of Media Researchers In Denmark)
– The aim of MedieKultur is to contribute to critical reflection and the advancement of theories and methodologies within the realm of media and communication research. MedieKultur publishes theme issues with the objective of fostering a dialogue between Danish and international media and communication researchers. We welcome submissions of papers and reviews of relevant contributions in English, Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian, says Skrubbeltrang Mahnke, who also serves on the journal’s editorial board.