Digital Opinion Leadership in the Age of Social Media and Generative AI: A Vision for the Future of Health Communication Science

Digital ecosystems have become the primary arena in which the public encounters a variety of science and health information.In its seminal 2025 publi ca tion, Understanding and Addressing Misinformation About Science, The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM, 2025) note that "while some features of social media platforms contribute to the production and spread of mis information, there are opportunities to leverage these platforms to proactively increase the supply of highquality science information" (NASEM, 2024, 3).This commentary seeks to expand on this concept by integrating recent developments in generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI), with the goal of identifying opportunities to advance the field of health communication science within the current communication landscape.