Technological hype and AI in journalism: Five functions and why they matter
技术炒作与新闻业中的人工智能：五大功能及其意义
Author: Seth C. Lewis（塞斯·C·刘易斯）、Rodrigo Zamith（罗德里戈·扎米斯）、Jon Benedik A. Bunquin（乔恩·本尼迪克·A·本昆）
Source：《Digital Journalism》2025
Abstract: Technological hype-such as that surrounding AI at the moment-can seem like just a fad, yet it powerfully organizes attention, resources, and meaning in and around journalism. We argue for taking hype more seriously as an object of inquiry because it represents something more than mere ephemeral excitement or superficial puffery: It offers a lens through which to explore the social, cultural, and institutional dynamics at work during crucial moments of technological change and anxiety. We introduce a two-by-two matrix that explores the nature of hype's effects (symbolic vs. material) with their site (internal to journalism vs. external to wider publics). This framework yields five functions of technological hype for journalism: attentional (how strategic capital is gained by adopting or resisting hype), orientational (how organizations set priorities and allocate scarce resources), signaling (how news media frame technologies and present themselves as innovative), mobilizing (how hype galvanizes partnerships, policies, and collective action beyond the newsroom), and reflexive (how journalists reconsider roles, values, and identities in relation to hype). Taken together, these functions clarify how hype channels power, legitimizes investments, shapes public narratives, and provokes professional self-reflection amid the present fascination with AI as "the next big thing."
文摘：像当下围绕人工智能这样的技术炒作，看似只是一时的风尚，但它强有力地组织了新闻业内部及其周边的注意力、资源和意义。我们主张将炒作视为一个严肃的研究对象，因为它不仅仅代表短暂的兴奋或肤浅的夸大宣传：它提供了一个视角，让我们得以探索在技术变革和焦虑的关键时刻起作用的社会、文化和制度动态。我们引入了一个2x2 矩阵，结合炒作效应的性质（符号性与物质性）及其发生场域（新闻业内部与面向更广泛公众的外部）来加以探讨。该框架揭示了技术炒作对新闻业的五种功能：注意力功能（通过采纳或抵制炒作获得战略资本的方式）、导向功能（组织如何设定优先级并分配稀缺资源）、信号功能（新闻媒体如何构建技术框架并展示其创新形象）、动员功能（炒作如何激励新闻编辑室之外的合作伙伴关系、政策和集体行动）以及反思功能（记者如何针对炒作重新思考其角色、价值观和身份）。综上所述，这些功能阐明了在当下人们将人工智能视为“下一个风口”的迷恋中，炒作是如何引导权力、使投资合法化、塑造公共叙事并激发职业自省的。
Keywords: artificial intelligence; AI; emerging technologies; hype; journalism studies; generative AI; institutional change; sociology of expectations
编译：任艳林、刘鑫
