The Arthur W. Page Center's 2025 Page/Johnson Legacy Scholar Grant competition is accepting research proposals on the ethics of generative AI in public communication.
Call for Proposals Overview
In recent years, generative AI technologies have rapidly transformed the landscape of public and strategic communication. As these innovations continue to evolve, it becomes imperative to critically examine their ethical implications and their impact on individuals, organizations and society.
This call invites academic proposals that explore the intersection of generative AI, public communication, and ethics. The Center welcomes proposals that use different methodological approaches including experiments, surveys, interviews, focus groups, content or textual analyses, case studies and others to explore this new technology’s impact from a variety of perspectives. Funding will prioritize proposals that address one or more of the Page Principles.
Proposal Topics
Relevant proposals include, but are not limited to, the following potential topics.
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Role of public relations and advertising - Examining best practices for PR and strategic communication around AI innovations.
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Transparency: Examining strategies for transparent use of AI generated content.
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Emerging concerns around data privacy, algorithmic bias, targeting vulnerable groups.
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Ethics of relationship building through AI technology.
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Ethical management of AI-generated crises.
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Public engagement and dialogue: Methods for engaging the public on priorities and concerns regarding generative AI.
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Impact on vulnerable populations: How generative AI may impact or exclude marginalized groups.
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Framing and media narratives around generative AI: How is the media portraying these technologies?
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Ethical implications in PR: How do generative AI and automation impact broader corporate ethics and reputation?
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Regulating marketing claims: Policy guidance to ensure truthful and non-deceptive advertising of AI capabilities.
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Consumer perceptions: How do consumers perceive and respond to ethical/unethical use of AI innovations in communication contexts?
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AI and political advertising: Use and ethical issues of AI-generated images and messages in political advertising, voter perceptions of and trust in such messages.
Final deliverable for all funded projects will be a research paper that will appear as a chapter in an edited book. The book will serve as an important collection of articles reflecting the current state of research on artificial intelligence in public communication for academics, media and public relations professionals.
Guidelines for grant applications can be found here.
Deadlines & Notifications
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Application materials must be electronically submitted on or before Jan. 15, 2025
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Scholars will be notified of the selection committee's decisions by March 21, 2025.
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First Research Roundtable presentation in May 2025.
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Second Research Roundtable presentation in May 2026.
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Final reports are due June 15, 2026.
Questions?
If you have questions about the ethics of generative AI in public communication call, contact the co-leads of the call.
Heather Shoenberger
- Associate Professor, Advertising/Public Relations, Penn State
- Senior Research Fellow, Arthur W. Page Center
Fuyuan Shen
- Donald P. Bellisario Professor of Advertising, Penn State
- Senior Research Fellow, Arthur W. Page Center