IMAGINE: An Integrated Model of Artificial Intelligence-Mediated Communication Effects

Abstract: AI is transforming all fields of knowledge and production. From surgery, autonomous driving, to image and video creation, AI seems to make possible hitherto unimaginable processes of automation and efficient creation. Media and communication are not an exception, and we are currently witnessing the dawn of powerful AI tools capable of creating artistic images from simple keywords, or to capture emotions from facial expression. These examples may be only the beginning of what can be in the future the engines for automatic AI real time creation of media content linked to the emotional and behavioural responses of individuals. Although it may seem we are still far from there, it is already the moment to adapt our theories about media to the hypothetical scenario in which content production can be done without human intervention, and governed by the controlled any reactions of the individual to the exposure to media content. Following that, I propose the definition of the Integrated Model of Artificial Intelligence-Mediated Communication Effects (IMAGINE), and its consequences on the way we understand media evolution (Scolari, 2012) and we think about media effects (Potter, 2010). The conceptual framework proposed is aimed to help scholars theorizing and doing research in a scenario of continuous real-time connection between AI measurement of people's responses to media, and the AI creation of content, with the objective of optimizing and maximizing the processes of influence. Parasocial interaction and real-time beautification are used as examples to model the functioning of the IMAGINE process.