Editorial: Rethinking Media Users in the Age of AI and Algorithmic Mediation

Abstract

We have collected 16 research essays on how artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping media, communication, and public life. The authors describe and prescribe how people respond to AI in real settings, such as journalists transitioning to algorithmic newsrooms, students utilizing ChatGPT, and policymakers searching for fairness and transparency. Across all articles, trust, ethics, and context should and could surpass AI's technical power. We classify the essays into four groups: AI adoption and professional integration; AI governance, ethics, and societal risk; pseudo-information detection and correction; and data-science methods for opinion and behavior analysis. These essays witness emerging media transformations, hinting at how AI can coevolve with, not replace, human intelligence in everyday mediated and connected life.