Critical Discourse Analysis of Artificial Intelligence Narratives in Online Media
Keywords:
Artificial Intelligence, Critical Discourse Analysis, Online Media, Media Framing, Digital DiscourseAbstract
The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies has significantly increased the presence of AI-related narratives in online media, where digital platforms play an important role in shaping public perceptions, attitudes, and ideological understandings of technological innovation. This study aims to critically analyze how artificial intelligence is represented and framed within online media discourse and to uncover the ideological meanings embedded in AI-related narratives. The research employed a qualitative approach using a descriptive-critical design through the framework of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). The data consisted of online news articles, blogs, social media posts, and AI-related digital publications collected from various online platforms published between 2020 and 2026. The analysis applied Norman Fairclough’s three-dimensional CDA model, including text analysis, discursive practice, and social practice. The findings revealed several dominant representations of AI in online media, including AI as technological progress, economic opportunity, human replacement, ethical threat, and futuristic solution. The study also identified dominant ideological patterns such as techno-optimism, fear-based ideology, commercialization ideology, and ethical awareness reflected through lexical choices, metaphors, headlines, emotional language, and framing strategies. Furthermore, the findings demonstrated that online media discourse significantly influences public understanding of artificial intelligence by shaping trust, social anxiety, labor concerns, and ethical perspectives regarding technological development. Overall, this study concludes that online media functions not only as a channel of information dissemination but also as a powerful discursive institution that constructs ideological meanings and public perceptions of artificial intelligence through strategic language use and media framing.
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