CfP: Industrialisation and (De)professionalisation of Communication in the Age of AI Tools
Context
Communication professions are at the heart of profound transformations, driven by the combined effects of technological changes (Babashahi et al., 2024), organizational demands for agility (Balog, 2020), and a gradual shift toward forms of algorithmic industrialization (Deliu & Olariu, 2024), alongside far-reaching societal questions (Crawford, 2021). The emergence of generative, predictive, and decision-making artificial intelligence is redefining the division of communicative labor, competency frameworks, professional identities, and the governance of expertise in this sector (Buhmann & Gregory, 2023). Where communication professionals, across the diversity of roles and functions they undertake, previously asserted their editorial and synthesis skills, as well as their creativity and strategic sense, what skills can they now still claim in view of the functionalities and performance of generative, analytical, or predictive artificial intelligence?
Is a true industrialization of communication—defined here as the transfer of activity to algorithmic agents—indeed underway (Srnicek, 2017)? Should we be speaking of the outsourcing of communication, similar to platforms (or marketplaces) where millions of independent workers (freelancers), whose intellectual services for companies in France mostly include communication consulting and/or digital marketing, as well as design and digital creation, interact?
Projections support the hypothesis of a substantial acceleration in the transformation of work, whose forms and consequences for communication professionals warrant careful examination. Two simultaneous dynamics are emerging: on one hand, enhanced industrialization of practices, based on standardization, automation, platform logic, and AI-assisted productivity; on the other, processes of deprofessionalization (Evetts, 2005) that result in task fragmentation, the precarization of certain job statuses, loss of autonomy, and the emergence of "self-proclaimed experts" (Collins & Evans, 2007; Brown, 2020).
This issue seeks to examine, through various empirical studies, the effects of these transformations on communication professions, structured around three main themes: (1) industrial changes tied to AI tools; (2) the redefinition of professionalism and career trajectories; (3) professionalization and training through/with AI tools. Above all, the aim is to interrogate the meaning of "industry" in relation to practice and its (potential) separation from craftsmanship (Caliste & Carnino, 2022) and professional ethos (Sennett, 2008) in communication professions.
A prospective review of the outsourcing of communication services—understood as the subcontracting of activities and tasks previously assigned to professionals (Vallas & Schor, 2020)—invites a reconsideration of the division of labor (Durkheim, 1993) and the role of the actor in a system (Crozier & Friedberg, 1977) characterized by dependence on technological "solutions" offered by AI providers.
Central Questions
How is AI transforming the communication industry? What are the impacts on professions, competencies, and production processes? How can professionals adapt to these changes and leverage the opportunities offered by AI tools? This special issue of Communication & Professionalisation aims to explore these questions and propose avenues for reflections on the future of professionalization in communication in such a context.
Special Issue Coordinators
• Patrice de La Broise, Université de Lille, patrice.de-la-broise@univ-lille.fr
• Marc D. David, Université de Sherbrooke, marc.d.david@usherbrooke.ca
• François Lambotte, UCLouvain, francois.lambotte@uclouvain.be
Timeline
• Launch: 26 September 2025
• Abstract submission deadline: 15 November 2025 (by email to the coordinators)
• Notification on abstracts: 30 November 2025
• Full paper submission deadline: 28 February 2026 (submission mandatory via the journal platform)
• Author notification: 15 May 2026
• Planned publication: End of November 2026