Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become part and parcel of most of our daily computing activities. It refers to computer systems “that can understand a natural language or perceive and comprehend a visual scene; and systems that perform other types of feat that require human type of Intelligence” (Echedom and Okuinghae, 2021: 244). Some of our computers and mobile phones have AI features which we use unaware. These features include speech recognition functions, grammar checks for example on Microsoft word among other features. Compared to natural human intelligence, AI is “consistent, less expensive, has the ease of duplication and dissemination, can be documented and can perform certain tasks much faster and better than the human” (Avneet, 2015: 79). Within the broader field of communication and information science, AI is used in fields such as journalism (Broussard et al., 2019), library (Echedom and Okuinghae, 2021), records management (Mosweu, 2021) and publishing (Zhao and Prabhashini, 2019) among others.

While there has been positive discourses around AI, its negative implications on “employment, democracy and equality” (Kerr et al., 2020: 1) have not been overlooked considering that every innovation or technology has its own challenges. The growth, adoption and utilisation of AI in the field of communication is unique to each society and therefore, societies can learn from each other through debates and knowledge exchange on their encounters with AI. Through reflecting on AI, sharing experiences and lessons learned, new thinking and pathways on how best to explore the opportunities associated with AI while addressing challenges associated with it.

As a contribution to global debates and knowledge generation and exchange, we are calling for abstracts with theoretical and empirical contributions on the use of AI within the communication and information science field. This shall be a hybrid Conference to accommodate those interested in participating online. Further, there will be a side event in the form of AI Exhibitions for those who want to showcase their AI products and innovations. The call for AI Exhibitions will be shared in due course. 

The abstracts for this conference should fall within but not limited to the following sub-themes:

1. Media, Journalism and AI.
2. AI and Strategic Communication.
3. Sustainability of the Media in the Age of AI.
4. Ethics and Regulation in AI Based Journalism/Media.
5. Societal, Environmental, Governance, Regulatory and Ethical Issues in AI.
6. AI and Web Services in Information Science.
7. AI in Academic Research, Scholarly Communication and Publishing.
8. Development, and Implementation of AI Technologies Across Diverse Geographical Regions and Linguistic Communities.
9. AI and Records Management.
10. AI and Library Science.
11. Information Integrity, Ethics and AI.
12. ⁠AI in Improving Literacy.
13. AI in Preserving Indigenous Languages.
14. AI and Creative Writing.
15. AI and Content Generation.
16. Theorising AI from the South/Margins.
17. AI, Gender and Digital Divide in Zimbabwe.
18. AI Opportunities for Young Students in Rural Zimbabwe.