The rapid pace of technological growth and global interconnectedness has brought about substantial changes in society, the economy, and the environment. These changes are collectively referred to as megatrends. As the 21st century progresses, these megatrends are expected to continue (Haluza & Jungwirth, 2023). In recent years, for instance, the field of artificial intelligence (AI) has made substantial progress despite having existed for years.
Previous educational experiences, particularly during the pandemic, enlightened us to the plethora of AI apps and tools that our students and co-workers today use and produce for a variety of purposes. The latest of which, the “fastest rising AI star,”3
Open AI’s ChatGPT, gained attention after piquing the interest of social media users with its ability to generate human-like responses in chat conversations. The ChatGPT language model is cutting-edge technology that has the potential to bring about a sea change in the field of education. As the implementation of ChatGPT and other AI tools and systems in educational settings becomes more widespread, it must be done following principles of responsibility and ethics.
However, because AI is becoming more widely used in educational settings, its application needs to be governed by principles of responsibility and ethics. Responsible and ethical use of AI in education goes beyond ensuring technical accuracy; it involves considering the potential social and ethical implications of its implementation, such as concerns about personal privacy and bias, as well as the role that AI will play in forming the educational landscape of the future.
The ethical and responsible use of AI in educational settings is a complicated and multi-dimensional issue that calls for an approach that is nuanced and interdisciplinary, a necessity for which has been brought to light by recent research. The studies that have been conducted on this topic have focused on privacy, bias, and the potential for AI to contribute to the digital divide (Garrett et al. 2020, Borenstein & Howard 2021, Holmes et al. 2021, Nguyen et al. 2022). Other academics have also stressed the significance of taking into account the role that AI will play in determining the course of the future of education, as well as the requirement for multidisciplinary approaches to the ethical and responsible application of AI in educational settings (Hoppe et al. 2003, Paulus & Langford 2022, Carvalho et al. 2022).
Thus, in this dynamic world of Knowledge and Information Societies, we inevitably adapt to AI systems, which offer promising support for teaching, learning and communicative interactions on various social media platforms. This includes personalizing learning for our students, automating instructor’s routine tasks, and powering adaptive assessments. However, while opportunities for AI on the culture of, norms in, and expectations of learner-instructor interactions are ever present, communication and media educators are faced with the challenges of communicating through and communicating in with AI, within contexts and perspectives of values, ethics, and practices.
As we continue to humanize communication education, we assert that the human component of human-machine communication (HMC) must never be neglected, since AI derives from the technical and material functioning of computing technologies, as much as from the contribution of humans who enter into communication with AI technologies.
The 2023 Communication and Media Studies Conference of the Philippine Association of Communication and Media Educators (PACE) explores how AI is affecting the educational landscape and how it compels the community of scholars to re-think, re-examine, and innovate policies, strategies, and experiences in order to adapt to the ever changing world.
n line with this year’s conference theme, “Communication and Media Education in the Time of AI: Values, Ethics and Practices, the following sub-themes shall capture our scholarly conversations. These sub-themes include, but are not limited to:
● Communicating in and Communicating through Artificial Intelligence
● Artificial Intelligence in Philippine Communication Contexts
● AI and Communicating for Sustainability, Climate Change, Environment, and
Health
● AI and Digital Platforms in Public Service
● AI and Development Communication
● ‘Humanizing’ Human Machine Communication in the time of AI
● Applied Data and Digital Science in Human Communication
● Digital Platforms and AI Apps (i.e. ChatGPT), Language, and Discourse
● AI and Media Studies (radio, TV, film, etc.)
● Action Research on AI and Communication Studies
● Media Ethics: Perspectives from Industry Partners
● AI and Research Ethics
Aside from parallel sessions for paper presentations, the event will also feature the 1st PACE of the Future Student Camp for student participants and the PACE Election of the Board of Trustees for 2023-2025.