Artificial Intelligence and Human Perception

Artificial intelligence is emerging as a key global issue of our time, due to its disruptive potential and pervasiveness. This interdisciplinary volume addresses AI’s implications for human development and discourse, drawing on diverse disciplines ranging from anthropology to linguistics, sociology, and political science. By examining both the production and reception of AI discourse, this collection, which features studies across four continents, investigates how AI narratives are constructed in different cultural contexts and how they influence public opinion. Different methodologies are used to explore AI’s media representations, political implications, and impact on various industries. Looking at both leading global actors such as the US, the EU and China, which are driving AI advancements, and countries and regions that are more deeply affected by AI’s massive adoption, this collection contributes to de-westernising communication research by deepening our understanding of the challenges and opportunities posed by AI at global level as well as in different geographical contexts.

Emma Lupano teaches Chinese language and culture at the University of Cagliari. Her research focuses on the relationship between culture, politics, and their linguistic manifestations in contemporary China. She wrote several essays on Chinese institutional and media discourse, and authored two books about Chinese journalism. Previously, she worked at the University of Milan, Peking University, and the University of Hong Kong’s China Media Project.

Paolo Orrù teaches Italian linguistics at the University of Cagliari. His main research interests are discourse analysis, corpus linguistics, the Language of politics and teaching Italian as a second language. He is the author of several essays on the issue of linguistic discrimination in its
various forms and in different media, including the monograph Il discorso sulle migrazioni nell’Italia contemporanea (FrancoAngeli, 2017).