Ten Provocations on AI, Trust, and the Future of Communication

Abstract: As we enter a global artificial intelligence (AI) boom, it is important to bring together the disparate array of conversations, provocations, and prophecies regarding AI and its societal impacts. This article addresses such questions from the standpoint of trust as a concept and communications as a disciplinary field. It notes both historical continuities and areas of discontinuity in these debates and the importance of popular culture as a means of framing AI debates. This article also questions the pessimistic scenario on AI’s likely impact on education, noting that it could be potentially positive for the humanities.