Published: 2025-09-03

The Centre for Media and Communication Research (CMCR) at Hong Kong Baptist University convened leading scholars from the United States, South Korea, and Hong Kong and emerging scholars from across the globe to discuss the transformative role of artificial intelligence in the field of communication studies at its international conference held on 12th and 13th August 2025.

The conference, titled “Advancing Responsible AI Communication Scholarship: Bridging Research and Global Collaboration”, featured a full-day symposium that explored the usefulness and downsides of AI integration in media and communication, followed by a dedicated half-day session tailored for local and international graduate students. Discussions centered on the ethical dimensions of AI, its influence on knowledge production and dissemination, and the responsibilities of researchers navigating this rapidly evolving landscape.

In her welcome address, Kara Chan, Associate Dean (Teaching and Learning) and Professor in the Department of Communication Studies, emphasized the transformative impact of AI in communication. She underscored the profound influence of artificial intelligence in redefining how information is created, disseminated, and understood. Chan drew attention to the duality of AI, celebrating its potential to unlock innovative pathways in communication, while also cautioning against its ethical complexities, such as transparency, trust, accountability, and fairness that it introduces.

Bu Zhong, Dean of the School of Communication, in his keynote address, further reiterated the importance of fostering scholarly inquiry into the diverse perspectives of AI in communication research, adding that the School of Communication is at the forefront of AI research in Hong Kong. “We are entering a new era of AI. At the School of Communication, we are trying to redefine what communication is and a big part if that is researching and understanding the impact of AI use in the field”, said Zhong, “Our AI efforts so far, is already attracting the attention of the Hong Kong Government and we hope to further collaborate with policymakers and industry leaders to shape the future of AI-driven communication”.

AI and Public Relations: Balancing Innovation, Ethics and Trust

As artificial intelligence continues to redefine the boundaries of media and communication, experts are increasingly focused on its implications for organizational communication and business practices. During the first session of the conference, panelists explored how AI is transforming public relations, delving into ethical concerns and presenting case studies that illustrate emerging best practices in the field.

Christine Huang, Head and Chair Professor, Department of Media and Communication, City University of Hong Kong, highlighted several unresolved critical issues arising from the growing adoption of digital health technologies and public trust in artificial intelligence. In her presentation titled “From Organization–Public Relationships to Organization–AI–Public Relationships (OAIPR): Trust, PR Strategies, and Technology Adoption”, Huang shared findings from her collaborative research on how public relations strategies influence the transfer of trust from institutions to artificial intelligence across publics in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and China. The study revealed that PR strategies emphasizing openness, mutuality, and responsiveness play a significant role in shaping institutional trust, albeit to varying degrees. Further insights from her research showed that institutional trust can be transferred to trust in AI, which in turn facilitates technology adoption. Their study offered understandings into the evolving dynamics between organizations, technology, and the public.

Hua Jing, Professor of Public Relations at Syracuse University, shared insights from her research on AI-powered chatbot communication. In her presentation titled “AI Innovations for Public Relations Research and Campaigns”, Jing noted that AI-driven chatbots enable organizations to monitor customer interactions in real time. She argued that these dialogic exchanges foster non-transactional engagement, allowing customers to access valuable information about the organization, connect with fellow users, and cultivate a sense of community online. Her study also examined the responsiveness of chatbot service agents to customer needs, their capacity to exhibit empathetic behaviour, and the overall impact on customer satisfaction.

Building on the conversation, Sung-Un Yang, Professor of Public Relations at Boston University explored the complex interplay between personal characteristics, AI perceptions, and workplace environments in AI adoption. His study, titled “Between Innovation and Caution: Key Factors for AI Integration in PR”, investigated how individual and organizational factors influence public relations professionals’ attitudes and intentions toward AI use. Yang found that while many PR practitioners consider AI tools user-friendly, they often struggle with integrating them seamlessly into all facets of their work. A prominent concern among professionals is the potential risk of harming clients’ reputations due to inaccurate AI-generated content.

Broader Impact of AI on Communication Scholarship

The second panel delved into the transformative impact of artificial intelligence on different dimensions of communication research, offering fresh perspectives on both theoretical frameworks and methodological approaches. Panelists discussed how AI technologies are reshaping traditional models of media analysis, audience engagement, and message dissemination.

King-wa Fu, Professor at Journalism and Media Studies Centre, The University of Hong Kong, in his presentation titled “Powergel or Snake Oil: Navigating AI in Media and Communication Research”, explored the practical applications of AI in communication research while critically examining the challenges of researching AI within the field. Fu emphasized that generative AI possesses the capacity to logically analyze, interpret, and respond to user queries, functions that can significantly enhance social scientific methodologies, including survey research, online experiments, and automated content analysis. However, he cautioned that the integration of AI into research practices demands scrutiny, particularly regarding accuracy, transparency, replicability, ethical implications, and the potential for validity and systematic bias in AI-generated outputs.

Further expanding the discourse in his presentation titled “Public Perception and Use of AI: Applying Media Theories to Understand Human-AI Interaction, Dependency, and Health Information Behavior”, Joon Soo Lim, Professor at Syracuse University, explored how artificial intelligence is reshaping individual perceptions and influencing behavioral patterns related to health information seeking and processing. Drawing on established media theories, he examined the evolving dynamics of human-AI interaction, emphasizing how dependency on AI tools is altering the way people engage with trust in health information, and act upon health-related content. His findings underscore the importance of understanding these shifts to better design AI systems that support informed and ethical health communication.

Nick Bowman, Professor of Communication at Syracuse University, delivered an insightful analysis on the role of artificial intelligence in writing research, peer-review systems, and academic publishing. His talk titled “Prompting Panic: Reconciling the Role of GenAI in Publishing and Peer Review”, explored how AI tools are reshaping scholarly workflows, starting from drafting and editing manuscripts to evaluating submissions and streamlining the publication process. Bowman shed light on the issue of AI hallucination, where AI systems generate research ideas or citations that lack grounding in verified knowledge. He noted that while AI can be a powerful tool for inspiration and efficiency, its output must be critically evaluated to avoid misinformation or academic inaccuracies. According to Bowman, responsible use of AI in research involves treating these tools as supplements to human expertise, not substitutes for rigorous scientific judgment.

Creativity and Ethics in the Age of AI: Perspectives from Photojournalism and Advertising

On the second day of the conference, the graduate student sessions offered a dynamic forum for early-career researchers to connect with leading international scholars and explore emerging directions in AI-driven communication research. Among the 32 student presenters from diverse countries, two postgraduate researchers from HKBU’s School of Communication showcased their work, contributing to the dialogue on AI’s impact on the field.

Richard Sam Dickson (2nd Year RPg Student) presented his ongoing study on the influence of AI-generated imagery in photojournalism. In his presentation titled “Beyond the Lens: Navigating Ethical Boundaries in AI‑Assisted Photojournalism”, Dickson examined how intelligent tools are reshaping photo-editing platforms such as Photoshop, and how photojournalists perceive the integration of AI-generated visuals in news reporting. He argued that the integration of AI tools into photojournalism has shifted the paradigm from “seeing is believing” to “seeing is verifying.” His preliminary findings suggest that photojournalists view AI as a force that is redefining the ethical landscape of visual reporting, challenging long-held principles of witnessing, integrity, and truth-telling, while raising concerns about the erosion of public trust.

Xiaoda Liu, (2nd Year RPg Student) centered her study on the evolving role of AI in advertising workflows. Her presentation, “Making it CreAItive: How Advertising Practitioners Normalize AI in Workflows”, delved into how industry professionals interpret and reshape the concept of creativity in with AI tools. Findings from Liu’s research indicate that the normalization of AI in advertising is not a simple story of substitution, but one of negotiation, adaptation, and boundary work. Practitioners perceive AI tools more as collaborative partners rather than autonomous creators, thereby preserving human authorship. They actively negotiate professional boundaries, transforming initial anxieties about replacement into opportunities for skill upgrading and strategic repositioning. At the organizational level, AI is embedded into hybrid workflows, enabling faster and modular collaboration, while simultaneously prompting new role configurations. Normalization is sustained through continuous trial and error and critical reflection on AI’s creative, ethical, and relational implications.

By fostering dialogue across different communication disciplines and geographical borders, this conference stands as a timely and critical initiative, championing ethical inquiry, collaborative innovation, and the cultivation of a globally engaged scholarly community. Keonyoung Park Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Studies and the Convener of the conference emphasized the importance of creating inclusive academic spaces where emerging voices can engage meaningfully with established scholars. “This initiative underscores the urgent need for thoughtful, ethical approaches to AI in communication, and positions HKBU as a hub for forward-thinking scholarship in the digital age”, she remarked. Park noted that these types of exchanges not only enrich the field of communication research but also lay the groundwork for ethically grounded and socially responsive applications of AI across media landscapes.