Poietic symbiosis or algorithmic subjugation: generative AI technology in marketing communications education

Abstract This exploratory study investigates the convergence of marketing communications and AI-powered technology in higher education, adopting a perspective on student interactions with generative AI tools. Through a comprehensive content analysis of learners’ responses, we employed a blend of manual scrutiny, Python-generated Word Cloud, and Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) to expose the nature of interaction between learners and AI tools. Our findings indicate that learners predominantly adhere to the perception of AI as a tool resembling a ‘brush’ in the creative process, rather than as an active co-creator – the percaption that is aligned with the conventional tool-user dynamic. Students articulated a dual narrative regarding AI: they acknowledged its utility in enhancing creativity, yet expressed concerns about overreliance potentially eroding their own creative skills. Heidegger’s exploration of different modes of ‘revealing’ and Deleuze and Guattari’s notions of desiring machines and machinic enslavement suggest an alternative perspective where technology, and by extension AI-empowered technology, can contribute to a deeper existential understanding. This study points out the possibility of moving beyond a simple tool-user model, suggesting the emergence of more complex plausible scenarios of interaction: poietic symbiosis or algorithmic subjugation.