Exploring Engagement With Complex Information: Perspectives on Generative AI as an Information Intermediary

The thematic issue aims to facilitate a multi-perspective reflection on the intricate relationship between generative AI and public engagement with complex information. With the introduction of ChatGPT in November 2022, generative AI has emerged as a new intermediary for information, reshaping the dynamics of information flow within society. Occupying a unique position, generative AI functions both as a channel or tool and as a communicator, actively generating and disseminating information.

In the realm of public engagement with complex information, the thematic issue aims to understand how and for what reasons people use generative AI. The focus shall be on the potential benefits offered by generative AI to diverse audiences—evident in enhanced information access, personalized content experiences, and efficiency—and the corresponding risks of misinformation, reinforced biases, polarization, and the erosion of traditional structures of knowledge production. As such, generative AI introduces new complexities that complicate the public’s engagement with information and may challenge conventional notions of well-informed democratic discourse.

The thematic issue thus aims to advance our understanding of how generative AI affects the way complex information is generated, disseminated, and received in society. Generative AI might elevate the issue of the digital divide to the next stage. In the era of generative AI, the source credibility of information becomes critical, particularly when dealing with complex information of high social relevance, where misinformation can yield far-reaching consequences. Therefore, implications for information literacy should also be reflected, along with strategies to empower individuals in navigating the rapidly changing digital information landscape. Moreover, the use of generative AI in different countries, cultures, or languages should be elucidated from various levels and perspectives.

Contributions may: cover individual or societal perspectives; apply national or particularly comparative approaches; be theory-based or empirical; and focus on specific generative AI systems or functionalities, or use a wider perspective.

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