Research on the Impact of Generative AI-Mediated Communication on Interpersonal Trust

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-609-3_76How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Generative AI-Mediated Communication (AIMC); Interpersonal Trust; Received Authenticity; Social Anxiety; Workplace Collaboration

Abstract

With the development of generative artificial intelligence, generative AI-Mediated communication (AIMC) is profoundly changing the interaction mode in the workplace. This study mainly explores the impact of generative AI (AIMC) on interpersonal trust and social anxiety in multiple dimensions. This study has specifically analyzed the two different development modes of cognitive trust and emotional trust. The study found that AI can not only act as a “catalyst for improving efficiency” but also as an “obstacle to emotional communication” in communication. In terms of trust, AI improves the ability assessment of the sender by optimizing logic and professional expression, thus stabilizing cognitive trust. However, because the text generated by AI lacks personalized emotional and non-verbal signals, it reduces the “realism” in communication and systematically destroys the emotional trust based on care. Especially when the use of AI is not transparent enough, the recipient often doubts the sender’s sincerity. In terms of social anxiety, AI can provide “social templates” for people with weak social skills to relieve communication pressure in the short term. However, long-term over-reliance on AI will lead to the shrinkage of personal emotional expression ability, exacerbating long-term social isolation and anxiety. Therefore, organizations should establish a mechanism of “task and technology matching”: use AI to improve efficiency in transactional tasks, but when it involves high emotional demand scenarios such as employee care and conflict handling, manual leadership should be adhered to. At the same time, the establishment of a transparent AI disclosure mechanism will help reduce suspicion.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Hanyi Ye
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/04
TI  - Research on the Impact of Generative AI-Mediated Communication on Interpersonal Trust
BT  - Proceedings of the 2026 3rd International Conference on Public Relations and Media Communication (PRMC 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 700
EP  - 707
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-609-3_76
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-609-3_76
ID  - Ye2026
ER  -