”Räddaren i nöden” : En multimodal kritisk diskursanalys av ChatGPT-memes på TikTok

Sammanfattning

This study examines how ChatGPT is represented in memes on TikTok, aiming to deepen the understanding of how artificial intelligence (AI) is perceived and constructed as a societal phenomenon. While research on AI discourse is growing, there remains a gap in understanding how the technology is discursively represented and understood in everyday and popular cultural forms, such as memes. Using a multimodal critical discourse approach, 23 memes were analyzed, considering both linguistic and visual elements to uncover underlying ideological assumptions in the broader discourse. The analysis identified four recurring themes in the representation of ChatGPT: romanticization, moralization, dependence, and technical object. Further analysis shows that the memes reproduce broader ideological assumptions about AI, reflecting both techno-optimistic and more critical perspectives, as well as humanizing versus technical representations of the technology. The analysis also highlights power relations in which these assumptions and representations contest and oppose one another. Overall, the study demonstrates how memes function as discursive practices, where ideas about AI are recontextualized in popular cultural forms and contribute to shaping the discourse order on social media. These findings enhance the understanding of how ChatGPT and AI are represented in memes, providing contemporary insights into how AI is imagined and understood, which is relevant for policymakers, societal stakeholders, and for guiding future research in the field.