Making Sense of the Imitation Game: Communicative authority in student interactions with AI chatbots

Higher Seminar in Media and Communication Studies with David Mathieu from Roskilde University, Denmark

Welcome to the next higher seminar organised by the Media and Communication Studies department, co-organised with the Digital Transformations Research Platform!

In this higher seminar, David Mathieu will present on the topic: ‘’Making Sense of the Imitation Game: Communicative authority in student interactions with AI chatbots."

This presentation introduces the main lines of a research that reframes authority in Generative AI (GAI) communication by questioning the relevance of the concept of “epistemic authority” (Jäger, 2025) as grounded in relations of truth and knowledge, and instead introducing the notion of “communicative authority”: the capacity of GAI chatbots to imitate convincing conversations that seem knowledgeable, supportive, and responsive.

David Mathieu (PhD) is associate professor at Roskilde University, Denmark. He is section editor for the Danish-language Media & Communication Lexicon and co-chairs the Audience Division of the Nordmedia association. His research focuses on audience and reception research in the context of technological developments in media. His interests include new methodological approaches and the conditions that evolving technologies create for media users. If you’d like to read more of David Mathieu’s CV, visit: https://forskning.ruc.dk/en/persons/mathieu/

It is possible to join the lecture on campus and online via Zoom. Contact us for the Zoom details if you'd like to join online.