Rethinking dialogue in the age of artificial intelligence: A reflective communicative framework

Abstract

Artificial intelligence has become an increasingly influential presence in educational communication, yet scholarly debate continues to frame it primarily as either a threat to authentic dialogue or a tool for improving efficiency. This article argues that both perspectives overlook a more fundamental educational questionhow AI reshapes the conditions under which interpersonal communication is interpreted, reflected upon, and developed. Drawing on classical communication theory and the culturally informed communication model proposed by Waitzman et al. (2025), the article reconceptualizes communication as an interpretive process shaped by cultural background, lived experience, emotional orientation, and relational context rather than as the simple transmission of information.Building on this theoretical foundation, the article proposes a novel framework that conceptualizes contemporary generative AI systems and AI-assisted communication analytics as reflective communicative infrastructure rather than autonomous communicative agents. Within this framework, AI supports communicative awareness by making linguistic patterns, implicit assumptions, emotional tendencies, and interpretive differences more visible while preserving human responsibility for interpretation, ethical judgment, and relational accountability. The article illustrates how this perspective may inform reflective writing, communication simulations, empathy training, and cross-cultural dialogue, while also examining the ethical conditions necessary for responsible AI-mediated communication.The article contributes to current debates in educational philosophy by distinguishing between AI as a communicative actor and AI as a reflective infrastructure. It concludes that the central educational challenge is not whether artificial intelligence should replace or be excluded from interpersonal communication, but how educational environments can employ AI to cultivate more reflective, culturally responsive, and ethically responsible dialogue.