Human Tech Transition:
Crises in Mediatized Politics, Society & Economy

Track chairs: Dorota Piontek (dorota.piontek@amu.edu.pl), Agnieszka Stępińska (agnieszka.stepinska@amu.edu.pl, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland

The power of technology, its diversity, and its expansiveness is undeniable when we are looking at crisis that, although taking place in Eastern Europe, has a global dimension - the war in Ukraine. Especially in countries located in a close proximity to the war, such as Poland, Lithuania, and Finland, the situation is affecting many aspects of life. Still, the war has an impact on many other regions in the world, by changing political, economic, and social contexts of contemporary international relations. Under such circumstances, a communication on warfare and political actions during becomes as important as a military background. During the past year, we have seen information warfare, with well-chosen messages designed to elicit either a response from the ruling elite or public support. Due to an extensive use of new technologies, such communications can give, often illusory, a sense of participation, being up-to-date with the events of the war, and sharing experiences with its participants. The communications space is also an increasingly important and frequently studied layer of hybrid conflict, as well as a component of a comprehensively understood security model based on society's pro-defense and mobilization potential.

Hence, it important to examine closely the mechanisms guiding communication. Our focus should be on mechanisms that have been known and used for a long time alongside with those that are entirely new and, in these dramatic circumstances, shaped for warfare.

Topics:

• Theoretical approaches to and empirical studies on propaganda, disinformation, fake news, cyber-attacks;
• Communication strategies of government/state entities during the war time;
• Social media as an arena of information warfare;
• Social media as an instrument of organization and mobilization;
• Traditional and online media coverage of war;
• The impact of crises on the development of communication technologies;
• The impact of war on communication in various areas of social activity;
• Media as a factor affecting opinions, attitudes, and behavior during the war.

Track chairs: Deimantas Jastramskis (deimantas.jastramskis@kf.vu.lt), Andrius Šuminas (andrius.suminas@kf.vu.lt), Vilnius University, Lithuania

A critical situation such as war puts in a new light the question of the importance and role that institutional - especially public - media should play. In the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, with the collapse of communism, their role was identified as a guarantor of democracy. The processes of political life, the public debate, of which the media are both a participant and a co-creator, provoke us to constantly address this question in the context of specific situations and events.

In times of war, the role of institutional and public media in communication becomes increasingly vital as it serves multiple functions, including providing reliable information, shaping public opinion, fostering solidarity, facilitating diplomatic efforts, and exposing war crimes and human rights abuses. Moreover, a free and independent media is essential for holding governments and military leaders accountable during times of war. By reporting on the actions of both domestic and foreign actors, institutional media can help to ensure that decisions are made with transparency, and any potential misconduct is exposed and addressed. The effectiveness of media in fulfilling these roles, however, depends on their independence, objectivity, and commitment to journalistic ethics.

By addressing these research topics, scholars can contribute to a better understanding of the complex role of institutional media in public communication during times of war and crises and develop strategies to promote responsible and accurate reporting in conflict situations.

Topics:

• Institutional and public media role and functions
• Institutional and public media in crises situations
• Free and independent media in times of war

Track chairs: Agnieszka Hess (agnieszka.hess@uj.edu.pl), Małgorzata Winiarska-Brodowska (malgorzata.brodowska@uj.edu.pl), Jagiellonian University, Poland

During the coronavirus pandemic and the unprecedented lockdowns of countries, economies, and societies in modern history, times of separation and loneliness seemed more comfortable to bear, thanks to technology. Yet the same tools after the lockdown contribute to significant social changes, cybermediating and digitalizing various social activities, creating new contexts, social practices, and areas of interactions.

Technology has also given us tools of permanent access to broad knowledge and much multi-threaded information, which historically were available only to a tiny group of experts and policymakers. In times of crisis and high uncertainty, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, unprecedentedly available expert knowledge becomes a valuable resource that allows even the standard user to influence public discussions. The use of data, conclusions from specialist reports, or references to experts strongly influences the public debate and makes it a kind of game in which the audience's attention and trust are at stake. These mechanisms are clearly visible when discussing COVID vaccinations or subsequent medical recommendations regarding the fight against the pandemic. It is worth reflecting and seeing what lessons can be learned from past (COVID and post-COVID) experiences – for international organizations, for national governments and their communications, for public and private institutions, for media and journalistic practices, and for citizens.

Not least, the pandemic’s experience of distant learning/working and increasing platformization of horizontal social – private and professional – ties have led to various, sometimes contradictory, redefinitions of privacy, home, and family boundaries. During the conference, we seek to reconstruct these shifts in shared imaginaries and respective media-oriented practices.

Topics:

• Health Communication
• Risk/crisis health communication
• Information communication technologies (ICTs) adoption in pandemic
• Cybermediating and digitalizing social activities –
• Well-being and mental health communication practices
• Communication strategies of governments/state entities/organizations (eg. international organizations) during the pandemic time

Track chairs: Bartłomiej Łódzki (bartlomiej.lodzki@uwr.edu.pl), Katarzyna Konarska (katarzyna.konarska@uwr.edu.pl); University of Wroclaw, Poland

As the climate crisis unfolds, the question of what can be done is increasingly not limited to issues of emissions reduction or recycling but encompasses broader and broader issues. It seems clear that if it is possible to resolve this crisis, it will not be without the use of new technologies, the development of which, to some extent, has contributed to its emergence. A look at another of the crises through the lens of new technologies and communications seems an interesting and legitimate approach. Does the communication concerning the crisis, conducted by climate scientists, activists, politicians, corporations, and citizens themselves, aimed at a broad audience and complex in terms of both the nuanced discourses and the media used, use the same solutions and mechanisms that we see in other crises? Do its unique characteristics cause unique solutions to be developed? Topic areas of interest include but are not limited to measuring the effectiveness of environmental communication, main actors in environmental communication, distortions, and noises in the flow of environmental communication, climate crisis as a security challenge.

Topics:

• Effectiveness of environmental communication
• Main actors in environmental communication
• Distortions, and noises in the flow of environmental communication,
• Climate crisis as a security challenge - Risk/crisis communication

Track chairs: Tomasz Gackowski (t.gackowski@uw.edu.pl) University of Warsaw, Poland

Usage of new technologies might be seen as a blessing or as a curse. An example of such a solution with extensive influence is Extended Reality, which has so far been on the periphery of life and has a chance of becoming an element of everyday life. The arrival of such a world has been accelerated, on the one hand, by technological development and the readiness of IT corporations to invest in VR/XR technology, and on the other hand, by a pandemic that prompted us to look for alternative ways to exist in isolation.

One of the foremost hurdles we confront is the pervasive proliferation of artificial intelligence, which exhibits a growing ubiquity globally. AI-based tools, which can generate written and visual content and develop advanced robotics, significantly impact various aspects of our lives. They affect, among others, the job market, education, healthcare, politics, and culture and directly shape contemporary research within the social sciences.This situation forces us to face completely new challenges. We must find ways to define ourselves in the virtual world in various dimensions, including establishing social relationships, creating our own identity, and developing communication immersed in digital solutions. We are interested in whether and how designing virtual worlds and using AI can condition human behavior. What is communication like in XR/VR? What is the specificity of intercultural interactions in the perspective of using AI in everyday life?

Topics:

• New technologies in communication
• Virtual /Augmented/Extended Reality technology in communication
• Artificial Intelligence
• Communication technologies - critical/cultural approaches

Track chair: Katarzyna Kopecka-Piech (katarzyna.kopecka-piech@mail.umcs.pl), Jakub Nowak (jakub.nowak@mail.umcs.pl), Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, Poland

In a world besieged by the climate crisis, war, social change, economic unpredictability, alienation, and anomy, we seek new tools to restore the social order or to foster a new, better one. In this panel, we would like to look at several aspects of this process. The first considers redefinitions – potential and actual – of citizenship and its dimensions (rights, duties, participation, identity) in times of datafication. Here, we take a closer look at new tools, media, and discourses that could lead to reclaiming the effective communication of policies and strategies by social and political agents of increasingly mediatized (platformized?) public sphere(s). In this regard, we look at interactive media, serious games, gamification, indie mobile apps, hybrid public projects, and other ways of rebuilding (or "re-building") a frame for dialogue, social consensus and social order in volatile times. The second approach is analyzing the self-organization of grassroots communities dedicated to self-help, seeking voice (for themselves and others), social learning, raising awareness and building political impact. These loosely organized networks are organized around specific ideas - be it food-sharing and fighting the wasteful economy, underprivileged and minorities rights, sharing knowledge and resources for fighting the hardships of economic turmoil, or ecological activism. Still, they often have a complex relationship with current social and political institutions, and while seeking for visibility, voice, and impact they all reach for digital media. Third, and not least, we approach these issues critically, inviting papers that take under consideration – both theoretically and empirically – also negative aspects of citizenship datafication, such as commodification of democratic institutions and activism tools, flourishing culture(s) of – state and corporate – surveillance, and new tensions tied to platformization of public environments.

Topics:

• Datafication in communication
• Digital activism
• Citizenship datafication & platformization
• Culture(s) of surveillance
• Interactive media & Gamification
• Grassroots communities discourse(s)

We live in an era where artificial intelligence profoundly shapes the media and communication landscape. This track aims to explore the intricate relationship between mediatization and AI, exploring its impact on society, culture, businesses, and various aspects of our lives. Mediatization research looks at the interrelationship between the transformation of media and communication on the one hand and culture and society on the other. With the introduction of widely shared AI tools such as ChatGPT, Dall-E, and other AI-based systems like social robots, dramatic changes in media usage, media cultures, and their respective reflections on politics, economy, and daily life have already been noticeable. At the same time, AI alters the very process of mediatization because "communication in today's societies occurs, to a considerable extent, through digital media and their infrastructures, a result of which is why every act of communication is already linked to processes of data generation and automated data processing"; this "makes a materialistic phenomenology necessary" (Couldry & Hepp 2023: 140). Therefore, AI finds itself at the heart of the contemporary theoretical debate, from grand theories such as social constructionism to the practical understanding of how it produces an extended entanglement of material infrastructures and social constructions.

Topics:

• Generative AI (from ChatGPT or Dall-E to GANs or Scribe) impacts media usage patterns and consumption behaviors in contemporary society - New technologies in daily life - changes for individuals, social groups, and families;
• The effects of AI-based systems, including social robots, on the evolution of media cultures and their role in shaping cultural norms and practices - AI and public discourse - mediatized publics and the part of fake information;
• AI tools and their integration into media platforms influence political communication and discourse in the digital age;
• Economic implications of AI-mediated communication technologies on media industries and business models;
• AI-based systems in media affect daily life, interpersonal relationships, and social interactions;
• Theoretical frameworks which can be employed to understand the mediatization process and its intersection with AI technologies in modern society;
• The ethical considerations and challenges arising from the widespread use of AI tools in media and communication and their impact on society - AI technologies, norms, ethics, and societal values: national and international perspectives on the role of technology for societal change;
• Empirical studies which could help to identify the strengths and limitations of AI technologies in the media landscape and their implications on various aspects of culture and society;
• AI tools' role in shaping media content creation, dissemination, and audience engagement and the consequences of these transformations - AI technologies and governmental practices - are analyzed and critiqued.

The particular track on mediatization looks at empirical and theoretical approaches toward these transformations to understand the practices and consequences connected to these new technologies.