Scientific Map of Artificial Intelligence in Communication (2004-2024)

TL;DR

This paper provides a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of AI's influence on communication from 2004 to 2024, highlighting key thematic areas and emerging trends like generative AI and China's role.

Contribution

It offers the first detailed scientific mapping of AI in communication, identifying core topics and future directions through bibliometric and visualization techniques.

Findings

Datafication and social media as key AI areas

Emergence of generative AI models like ChatGPT

China's growing influence in AI communication applications

Abstract

Introduction: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is having a significant impact in the field of communication, causing transcendental changes in the processing and consumption of information. The objective of this work was to analyze the most influential AI topic areas in the field of communication based on scientific literature. Methodology: 996 references indexed in Web of Science between 2004-2024 were selected, a bibliometric analysis of co-words was carried out and visualization techniques were applied to build scientific maps. Results: The most relevant thematic areas were datafication, the linking of AI with social media and digital journalism. The emerging area of generative AI was identified, linked to new AI models, such as ChatGPT, designed to generate content in the form of written text, audio, images or videos. Another emerging topic area was China's impact on the use of AI in communication. Discussions: Despite the impact of AI in communication, the field is still in the process of structuring, with few consolidated topics. Conclusions: This study made it possible to identify the thematic areas of the field studied, as well as the detection of emerging trends.