User-AI Communication Patterns: Taming, Symbiosis, and Cultural Impacts from a Communication Analysis Perspective
Abstract
Generative AI is shifting human-computer interaction from instrumental use toward meaning negotiation. This study employs transactional analysis to examine "Taming" and "Symbiosis" as communicative patterns in user-AI interaction. Taming forges a controllable tool through prompt engineering, establishing a complementary Parent-Child transaction. Symbiosis creates a quasi-inter subjective relationship that holds Adult-Adult potential yet risks regression. Both reshape communicative culture: Taming may intensify instrumental rationality and digital divides, while Symbiosis, despite fostering collaboration, could trigger blurred subjectivity, emotional dependency, and social alienation. We therefore propose "Conscious Symbiosis" to balance technical empowerment with humanistic preservation.
References
- Stewart, I. and Joines, V. (2012) TA Today: A New Introduction to Transactional Analysis. Lifespace Publishing.
- Habermas, J. (1981) Theorie des kommunikativen Handelns. Suhrkamp.
- Berne, E. (1964) Games People Play: The Psychology of Human Relationships. Grove Press.
- Turkle, S. (2011) Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other. Basic Books.
- Bender, E.M., Gebru, T., McMillan-Major, A., et al. (2021) On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots: Can Language Models Be Too Big? Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency, 2021, 610-623.
- Couldry, N., & Hepp, A. (2016). The Mediated Construction of Reality. Polity Press.
- van Dijk, J. (2020) The Digital Divide. Polity Press.
- Sunstein, C.R. (2017) Republic: Divided Democracy in the Age of Social Media. Princeton University Press.
- Putnam, R.D. (2000) Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. Simon & Schuster.
- Turkle, S. (2017) Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age. Penguin Books.
- Shneiderman, B. (2020) Human-Centered AI. Oxford University Press.
- Gunkel, D.J. (2020) How to Survive the Machine Apocalypse: A Meditation on the Philosophy of AI. Palgrave Macmillan.
- Huang, D. (2015) [Media Convergence: The Three Dimensions of Internet Communication, Mass Communication and Interpersonal Communication]. Fudan University Press.