Answer engines and other communication partners.
The article explores the social role and implications of large language models (LLMs) through the lens of media theory. Rather than considering LLMs as advanced forms of artificial intelligence, I argue that a communication-focused perspective provides a more effective way to interpret their impact...
| Publicado en: | Communication Theory (1050-3293) Vol. 36; no. 2; pp. 86 - 95 |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
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Oxford University Press / USA
May2026
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=193756876&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 193756876 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 10503293 CIY jtl: Communication Theory (1050-3293) issn: 10503293 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: May2026 vid: 36 iid: 2 pid: 622 pub: Oxford University Press / USA artinfo: ui: 193756876 10.1093/ct/qtaf036 ppf: 86 ppct: 9 formats: tig: atl: Answer engines and other communication partners. aug: au: Esposito, Elena affil: Department of Political and Social Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, ItalyFaculty of Sociology, Bielefeld University, Germany su: Artificial intelligence Communication policy Media studies Language models Chatbots Information resources management Ethical problems sug: subj: Artificial intelligence Communication policy Media studies All Other Information Services Language models Chatbots Information resources management Ethical problems keyword: answer engines Artificial Communication copyrightHolder:International Communication Association copyrightYear:2026 hallucinations inLanguage:en Large Language Models LLMs misalignment publisher:Oxford University Press Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) sameAs:https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ct/qtaf036 search engines answer engines Artificial Communication copyrightHolder:International Communication Association copyrightYear:2026 hallucinations inLanguage:en Large Language Models LLMs misalignment publisher:Oxford University Press Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) sameAs:https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ct/qtaf036 search engines ab: The article explores the social role and implications of large language models (LLMs) through the lens of media theory. Rather than considering LLMs as advanced forms of artificial intelligence, I argue that a communication-focused perspective provides a more effective way to interpret their impact on information management in contemporary society and to address the associated ethical and operational challenges. Supported by information management tools such as archives, catalogs, and later search engines, previous communication media expanded the scope of communication, making it possible to reach more, distant, diverse, and possibly anonymous communication partners. LLMs now signify a new phase in the evolution of communication, as they function themselves as communication partners capable of responding autonomously to user queries in a personalized manner. This perspective highlights and explains the capabilities and limitations of various LLM-based chatbots and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) models, while also addressing issues such as misalignment and hallucinations. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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