AI and Agency: Policy as Problem Posing in the Introductory Communication Studies Classroom

Abstract

We articulate a critical communication pedagogy approach to the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) that addresses a tension in introductory communication courses: institutional pressures for AI policies that are easy to implement and enforce versus relational approaches that are more consonant with long-term professional growth and agency. Drawing on Freire (2000), Fassett and Rudick (2023), and others, we contend that surveillance-oriented AI policies reinforce a banking model of education, foreclosing substantive engagement with students about the ethical, relational, and epistemic implications of AI use. In centering the work of TA supervisors, we articulate problem posing as a framework for AI policy development that foregrounds human connection and positions AI as a catalyst for inquiry. We conclude with a set of agenda-setting questions to guide TA supervisors, department leaders, and communication pedagogy scholars in building communities of practice that foster agency, ethical discernment, and critical understanding of AI’s role in communication education.