Abstract

In response to the growing application of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) in professional communication training, applied linguists have raised concerns about the perpetuation of cultural stereotypes from biases in the Large Language Models used to train GenAI (Dai, Zhu & Chen, 2024). Simultaneously, it is often assumed that humans, as users of GenAI, possess the ability to recognize and critically assess such stereotypes in GenAI outputs.

In this talk I will present interactional analysis of simulated interactions between human physiotherapists and AI-generated patients from diverse cultural backgrounds. Findings reveal that although humans can indeed display criticality towards cultural stereotypes outside interaction, during interaction they are highly susceptible to becoming interactionally entrenched in essentialized narratives about the other cultures.

In view of the findings, I will discuss the difference between Stated Criticality and Interactional Criticality. I will also argue for the need for users of GenAI to develop Critical Interactional Competence in order to critically engage with GenAI chatbots in interaction. This new type of competence applies to both professional communication and mundane communication in intercultural contexts.

Bio

David Wei Dai PhD FHEA is Assistant Professor in Professional Communication at UCL Institute of Education, University College London. He is Associate Editor for the journal TESOL in Context. Dr Dai's research interests include human-AI interaction, professional communication, intercultural communication and discourse analysis. His work has appeared in international peer-reviewed journals including Applied Linguistics, Language Teaching Research, Medical Education, Applied Linguistics Review, Language Assessment Quarterly, Language, Culture and Curriculum and Journal of English for Academic Purposes. He is author of the Open Access monograph Assessing Interactional Competence (Peter Lang).