Event

Human Agency in AI-Mediated Communication: Integrity, Trust, and Ethical Practice

MGM MACAU, Grand Ballroom 1 & 2

Time
- Asia/Macau

CHAIR

Jordi Hernàndez-Prat
Jordi Hernàndez-Prat
Director of Audiovisual Projects, Parc Audiovisual de Catalunya & Terrassa City Council · UNESCO Creative City of Film Focal Point, Terrassa · University Lecturer in Communication, University of Barcelona

 

 

  

SPEAKERS

Prof. Wayne Holmes
Prof. Wayne Holmes
PhD (Oxon.), MSc (Oxon.), MA. Full Professor of Critical Studies of Artificial Intelligence and Education, UCL Knowledge Lab, UCL Institute of Education, University College London, London, UK; UNESCO Chair in the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence and Education; International Research Centre of Artificial Intelligence (IRCAI), Institut Jožef Stefan, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Jordi Hernàndez-Prat
Jordi Hernàndez-Prat
Director of Audiovisual Projects, Parc Audiovisual de Catalunya & Terrassa City Council · UNESCO Creative City of Film Focal Point, Terrassa · University Lecturer in Communication, University of Barcelona

 

Nurun Nahar
Nurun Nahar
Assistant Professor, University of Greater Manchester
Sheikh Sultan Aadil Huque
Sheikh Sultan Aadil Huque
Research Associate, Centre for International Law, National University of Singapore | Research Coordinator, UNESCO Chair on AI Law & Sustainability
Joyleen Christensen Senior Lecturer, University of Newcastle, Australia
Joyleen Christensen
Senior Lecturer, University of Newcastle, Australia

 

   

DESCRIPTION

As AI becomes deeply embedded in communication systems, it increasingly acts not just as a tool, but as an active communicator that reshapes how information is produced, circulated, and trusted. This panel addresses how communication theory must respond to these emerging challenges from a human-centered perspective. Grounded in interconnected themes, speakers will question when AI disrupts traditional sender–message–receiver models and lowers the cost of producing mis- and disinformation. The discussion will analyze the responsibilities distributed across platforms, developers, and regulators, ultimately addressing how humans should communicate ethically to preserve integrity in automated environments.

As artificial intelligence becomes deeply embedded in communication systems, it increasingly acts not just as a tool, but as a communicator, reshaping how information is produced, circulated, interpreted, and trusted. This panel will discuss how communication theory and practice must respond to emerging challenges to information integrity from a human-centered perspective. The panel discussion is structured around five interconnected themes: (1) AI-mediated communication, questioning when AI disrupts traditional sender–message–receiver models and blurs boundaries of agency, intentionality, and responsibility, how humans consume AI-generated messages. (2) When generative AI has dramatically lowered the cost and increased the scale and speed of producing mis-and disinformation, how it complicates individuals’ ability to navigate the environment where the boundaries between truth, error, and fabrication are increasingly ambiguous. (3) These challenges are further complicated by platform algorithms and governance structures, which shape what information becomes visible, amplified, or suppressed. What responsibilities should be distributed across platforms, developers, and regulators and users? (4) In AI-mediated environments, trust is no longer confined to media institutions but extends to complex networks of human and non-human actors. Understanding how trust is constructed, eroded, and recalibrated across these relationships is essential for sustaining functioning information ecosystems. (5) Through discussing these four related questions, this panel will turn to a normative and important question: how should humans communicate ethically in the age of AI? It will reflect on what forms of ethical communication practices and integrated literacies are required to preserve integrity in increasingly automated and opaque systems.

Panelists specializing in these thematic areas are warmly welcomed to share their insights into the intersections between technological transformation and human responsibility, highlighting the critical role of human agency in sustaining information integrity in AI-medicated communication ecosystem.

This session is part of the UNU Macau AI Conference 2026. 
To view the full program, please visit the program page. 
To join the Conference, please visit the registration page.

AI × Education: AI for Learning, Learning for AI
Nov. 25-26, 2026 | Macau SAR, China
AI Conference 2026 | AI for SDGs - Global Youth AI Future Innovation Competition | AI × Education Workshops