AI-Powered Social Listening for Strategic Crisis Management in the Digital Era

<p><span lang="EN-US">The convergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and social listening has redefined crisis management in the technology sector, enabling organizations to detect, interpret, and respond to emerging threats with unprecedented speed and contextual precision. While prior research has examined AI in communication and monitoring separately, there remains a literature gap in synthesizing how AI-powered social listening operates across the whole crisis lifecycle and aligns with established communication theories such as Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT). This paper addresses this gap through a systematic literature review (SLR) of 68 peer-reviewed studies published between 2013 and 2024, identifying key technological capabilities, applications, limitations, and ethical considerations. Findings indicate that transformer-based natural language processing (NLP) models, multimodal AI, and advanced anomaly detection systems significantly enhance early warning capabilities, real-time situational sensemaking, and adaptive stakeholder engagement. These tools have proven particularly critical in high-velocity crises where public narratives can shift rapidly across digital platforms. However, the review highlights persistent challenges, including algorithmic bias, platform coverage gaps, vulnerability to synthetic media, and ethical governance deficits. Drawing on arguments by SCCT, Crisis Informatics, and Sensemaking Theory, the current paper states that AI-based social listening can be regarded as a strategic practice rather than an auxiliary tool in resilient, transparent, and responsive crisis communication. The paper concludes with recommendations that practitioners and policymakers can implement to ensure AI systems meet both operational and social needs.</span></p> <p><strong><em><span lang="EN-US">Keywords: </span></em></strong><em><span lang="EN-US">Artificial Intelligence, Social Listening, Crisis Management, Situational Crisis, Crisis Informatics</span></em></p>