How is Generative AI changing the way we learn, communicate, and make sense of the world today? This project explores how AI tools shape meaning, influence trust, and impact how we find and share information, and how they affect people’s understanding of truth, knowledge and language.

We seek to establish a long-term relationship between the University of Birmingham’s Department of Linguistics and Communication and the Department of Applied Linguistics at Leiden University, drawing on our joint research expertise in digital media and communication, linguistics, and translation studies. In 2025-2026, we exchanged visits to devise, design, and continue our collaboration on two specific research projects related to the effects of Generative AI on meaning making and information integrity.

Public discourse around AI and how it shapes policy (2025–2026)

We investigate public discourse around AI, particularly focusing on how AI is framed. We initiated a corpus-based study exploring the attitudes of different stakeholders (individuals, private companies, government bodies) towards AI based on public consultation letters on the US AI Action Plan. We are working on two papers focusing on the linguistic and political communication aspects of the AI Action Plan discourse.

Original output: Whose Voice Counts? Mapping Stakeholder Perspectives on AI Through Public Submissions to the U.S. Government

AI literacy and critical engagement with Generative AI in Higher Education (2026–onwards)

We examine the impact of generative AI on meaning making and information integrity from the perspective of young people in the Netherlands and the UK through AI-related audience studies and activities designed to be incorporated in classrooms, which will inform how we use AI in our teaching practice at Birmingham and Leiden

Events

Birmingham workshop, 24-25 March 2025
Leiden workshop, 27-28 May 2025
Birmingham workshop, 23-24 2026
Leiden workshop, 26-27 May 2026

Birmingham lead researcher:

Dr Bissie Anderson
Assistant Professor in Digital Media and Communications
I am a Digital Journalism researcher interested in knowledge production in digital communication, participatory media, and community media.

University of Birmingham project participants

Leiden University participants

The Leiden lead researchers for this project are Dr Lettie Dorst (round 1 of collaboration) and Dr Alina Karakanta (round 2 of the funded partnership).

This project is funded by the Birmingham-Leiden Strategic Collaboration Fund.

Meaning making and information integrity in the age of AI