Synthetic Mediations: Mapping the Anti-Hermeneutic and Post-Ideological Structure of Automated Communications in the Digital Public Sphere

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This study aims to map artificial intelligence producing synthetic media within the public sphere. I introduce the concept of synthetic mediations to help explain the latest structural transformations and ask how the material deployment of synthetic mediations instantiate a new form of communication which is anti-hermeneutic and post-ideological posing challenges to democracy. I use critical theory as well as case study analysis, interviews, and prompt engineering as a method of analysing synthetic mediations. Traditional forms of mediation, such as the public sphere, are being rapidly transformed by digital society. My original contribution is two-fold, developing both a new critical concept of 'synthetic mediations' and methodological, adapting techniques of 'prompt engineering' into a digital method for humanities research. This work is urgent given the pressure on governments to pass laws on certain uses of AI, giving this project both academic and policy implications.