This chapter concludes the book by discussing our overarching objective highlighting the central role of GAI in shaping our educational system. By steering the ongoing discourse toward the communication classroom, the authors delved into its proliferation in academia, emphasized the significance of academic preparedness, and confronted unethical representations. It also discusses the relationship between GAI whiteness and wokeness.
TopIntroduction
Generative artificial intelligence (GAI), defined by its capacity to assimilate representative artifacts and generate new data resembling, yet not replicating, the original (Feuerriegel et al., 2023; Lim et al., 2023), has garnered widespread attention since entering mass consciousness in November 2023. Our objective in writing this book was to acknowledge that the GAI is rapidly integrating into our lives and educational systems. We argued that leaving the design of the GAI solely for developers is insufficient; various sectors, particularly the educational sector, including Higher Ed, must coordinate with policymakers and developers to ensure the ethical use of GAI in education. As a discipline historically intertwined with technology since the days of print, communication can play a pivotal role in this revolution. While the question of integrating AI in the classroom persists, change is already underway. This book aimed to showcase the pivotal role of GAI in shaping our educational system and explore the ethical considerations of its integration.
The capacity of GAI to interpret text and images, generating original content, has sparked discussions around concepts such as 'machine consciousness' and 'sentience.' (Coeckelbergh & Gunkel, 2023; Tacheva & Ramasubramanian, 2023). The discourse has transitioned from an initial admiration of multimodal algorithms, perceived as convincingly human, to the current emphasis on responsibly integrating these capabilities into our education system. Simultaneously, concerns about the potential obsolescence of human experience have been raised (Khogali & Mekid, 2023). The emergence of the ChatGPT in November 2022, which was extensively discussed in this book, marked a significant breakthrough, with technological roots dating back decades (Fitzpatrick et al., 2023; Verity & Motalebi, 2023).
As GAI technology has rapidly advanced in voice cloning, information accessibility, and faster knowledge generation (Aktay et al., 2023; Liu et al., 2023), different authors in this volume have thoroughly explored the multifaceted implications of GAI and navigated evolving critical considerations associated with its integration. Our contribution, grounded in the reflection of collective experiences in the writing of this book, aimed to mitigate GAI biases in new developments and foster coordination across sectors. In this context, the book critically interrogated the imperative of deploying GAI in the communication classroom, with a distinct focus on the responsible integration of this technology.
Our overarching objective was to highlight the central role of GAI in shaping our educational system. By steering the ongoing discourse toward the communication classroom, we delved into its proliferation in academia, emphasized the significance of academic preparedness, and confronted unethical representations. To address this inquiry, the book was structured into four parts: Part I—Historicizing Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) in the Communication Classroom; Part II—Reconfiguring the Communication Classroom in the Era of GAI; Part III—Safeguarding Against Mediocrity in the Age of GAI; and Part IV—Futurizing Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) in the Communication Classroom.
In alignment with evolving perspectives on critical AI theoretical foundations (Raley & Rhee, 2023; Roberge & Castelle, 2021), this concluding chapter addresses key takeaways that underscore the dynamic interplay between technological progress (Troy et al., 2023), enhancing human life and productivity despite job disruptions and displacement (Romer, 1990) and technological responsibility. We use the term responsibility to scrutinize the potential versus risks of GAI. In doing so, the chapter highlights three main takeaways and delves into concepts meriting further exploration, particularly those related to hegemony and whiteness within the industry. Emphasizing the paramount importance of guarding against hegemonic AI, it acknowledges the persistent influence of deep-seated histories of whiteness power within AI (Cave & Dihal, 2020), noting their reinforcing nature (Tacheva & Ramasubramanian, 2023), and their contribution to existing inequalities (Reed, 2023). While some chapters hint at hegemony in terms of stereotypes (Chapters 8 and 12), this concluding chapter explores GAI whiteness and wokeness.