Fostering dependency in the name of efficiency: AI as an anti-democratic communicative praxis
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15 April 2026
4:30 PM - Meeting room nr. 300, Komenského náměstí 220/2
Matthew Jordan is a leading media scholar who serves as Head of the Department of Film Production and Media Studies at Penn State University and Director of its News Literacy Initiative. Renowned for making complex media and cultural theories accessible to broad audiences, he is the executive producer of the Emmy-nominated documentary series HumIn Focus and co-host of the News Over Noise podcast, both of which support the public to navigate media and current issues critically. His book Danger Sound Klaxon! (2023) reflects his interdisciplinary expertise in sound, culture, and technology. He was awarded Penn State’s 2025 Faculty Outreach Award in recognition of his exceptional outreach and public scholarship.
Abstract
The lecture intervenes in the ongoing debate about the utility and social function of artificial intelligence. It explores the implications of AI as both a communication technology and an epistemological praxis, applying the lenses of democratic theory and the ritual view of communication. The argument centers on how we are cultivating dependency on machines that cannot think or know, thereby abandoning democratic epistemology and deliberative meaning-making. Instead, we embrace the chains of efficiency imposed by the hegemonic forces of transnational capital.
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