Work

Inhuman Rhetoric: Generative AI and Crisis Communication

Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: This article considers the rhetorical risks of using generative AI to compose organizational communication during crises or in the aftermath of tragedies. It focuses on a case study in which representatives of Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College of Education and Human Development disclosed their use of ChatGPT to write a response to a school shooting at another university. The author argues that although generative AI can often be useful in technical and professional communication, it can also undermine perceptions of “rhetorical humanity” if its use is disclosed or discovered, making it rhetorically risky in certain contexts. Thus, knowing when not to utilize AI is an important aspect of AI literacy for practitioners.
Author: Erick Piller
Language: English
Subfield: Communication
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4402948517
FWCI: 11.2
Cites: 10
Cited by: 13
Related to: 10