Situational Awareness in TPC - The AI Shift Has Only Just Begun

This paper explores the concept of situational awareness as a critical framework for understanding the implications of emerging AI developments, such as autonomous agents, self-learning systems, and the superalignment problem, for technical and professional communication (TPC). Situational awareness, rooted in fields like aviation and emergency response, enables TPC professionals to perceive, comprehend, and anticipate the evolving capabilities and risks of AI systems. This paper documents cutting-edge advancements in AI research and argues that TPC practitioners and educators must deepen their technical literacy to navigate these changes effectively. By incorporating technical concepts such as tokens, transformers, and context windows into TPC curricula, and addressing concerns about the erosion of critical thinking in education, this paper offers a proactive strategy for aligning the field with the future of communication technologies.