Reconstructing the Communication Ecology: A Case-Based Three-Stage Evolutionary Model of AIGC Roles
Abstract
This study investigates how Artificial Intelligence-Generated Content (AIGC) reshapes communication by moving beyond traditional media frameworks. Building on McLuhan’s media theory, participatory culture, and Human-Machine Communication (HMC), the research develops a three-stage evolutionary model that conceptualizes AIGC as “Other,” “Environment,” and “Dialogue Partner.” Through case studies of AI-generated covers on YouTube, AI ASMR videos, and Xiaohongshu’s interactive translation hashtag, the analysis demonstrates how AIGC evolves from a passive content factory to a perceptual regulator and finally to a co-creative partner. This transformation highlights a redistribution of agency between humans and AI, challenges conventional notions of authorship and originality, and extends media from bodily extensions to imaginative and symbolic interaction. The study contributes a new theoretical lens referring to “the medium as actor”, and underscores both the opportunities and ethical challenges of human–machine symbiosis in the age of AIGC.
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