The Temporality of Communicative AI: Discourse Analysis of Pioneer Visions and Public Imaginaries of Communicative AI

Time and temporality are social constructs reflecting the ideological and practical circumstances of society. They are intertwined with other social processes, such as the sociotechnical emergence of automated communication. While automated communication technologies are in a mutually transformative relation with time and temporality, the social construction of time and temporality around emerging communicative AI is driven by the discursive practices of pioneer actors through societal communication. Although communicative artificial intelligence (ComAI) receives increasing attention from the public and scholars, a comprehensive analysis of time constructions related to ComAI has yet to be done.

This dissertation project goes beyond analyzing temporal experiences with ComAI and investigates how time and temporality are constructed in discourses around ComAI by exploring (1) the existing constructs of mediated time and temporality preceding the emergence of ComAI through conducting a systematic literature review, (2) the constructs of time and temporality in public imaginaries of ComAI through conducting a discourse analysis of public media frames, and (3) the emerging constructs of time and temporality in the visions of pioneer communities and tech movements through conducting a discourse analysis of prominent publications and forums.