Who Is Really Speaking? The Hidden AI Layer Inside Human Communication
Sumaira Tabassum · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · 2026
The article revisits key elements of communication—including the sender, encoding, message, channel, receiver, and feedback—and explores what happens when AI becomes involved between human intention and the final message. It proposes the concept of a “hidden AI layer” to describe this emerging space of AI intervention in human communication. The discussion introduces three levels of AI involvement: AI-assisted, AI-augmented, and AI-generated communication. It further considers the implications for human agency, authorship, authenticity, trust, disclosure, and responsibility. Rather than treating AI simply as another communication tool, the article invites researchers, educators, and communication professionals to reconsider how messages are created and how meaning, ownership, and responsibility may change when humans and AI communicate together. Keywords: AI-mediated communication, artificial intelligence, human communication, communication theory, generative AI, AI-assisted communication, AI-generated communication, human–AI interaction, authorship, authenticity, trust