Negotiating Meaning and Identity with AI: A Postdigital, Sociomaterial Perspective on Literacy Practices
Submitted by:
Eleni Shaili
Abstract:
This presentation introduces a PhD thesis that explores how artificial intelligence (AI) tools shape meaning-making within digital literacy practices. Situated within the framework of New Literacy Studies (Lankshear & Knobel, 2011; Nichols, 2022), and drawing on sociomaterialism (Burnett & Merchant, 2020; Hawley, 2022) and postdigital theory (Bhatt, 2023; Knox, 2019), the research examines user interaction with AI systems (e.g., chatbots, image generators) as complex, relational, and multimodal events. Based on “literacy-as-event” (Burnett & Merchant, 2020) and “machine-human co-production” (Bhatt, 2023) understandings, the study explores meaning-making as affective and material . The preliminary review of related research suggests that AI acts not merely as a tool, but as a co-author, shaping, redirecting, and sometimes diminishing the user's meaning-making process. Rather than presenting a concrete methodology, the aim of my presentation is to outline the emerging conceptual framework and share reflections on how meaning-making unfolds in AI-mediated environments. Given that I am at the initial stages of developing a PhD research proposal, I invite collaborative dialogue on the potential methodological pathways this inquiry can take. By opening up the discussion, I seek to co-construct ideas around the methodologies that facilitate the exploration of how literacy pedagogies might critically respond to the shifting conceptualizations of text, authorship, and knowledge in AI-based learning environments.
References
- Bhatt, I. (2023). Posdigital literacies. In P. Jandrić (ed.), Encyclopedia of Postdigital Science and Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35469-4_15-1
- Burnett, C., & Merchant, G. (2020). Undoing the digital: Sociomaterialism and literacy education. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351041711
- Hawley, M. (2022). Doing sociomaterial studies: the circuit of agency, Learning, Media and Technology, Vol. 47, No.4, 413-426 https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2021.1986064
- Knox, J. (2019). What does the ‘postdigital’ mean for education? Three critical perspectives on the digital, with implications for educational research and practice. Postdigital Science and Education, 1, 357–370. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-019-00045-y
- Lankshear, C., & Knobel, M. (2011). New literacies: Everyday practices and social learning (3rd ed.). Berkshire, UK: Open University Press, McGraw Hill House.
- Nichols, S. (2022). Traversing Old and New Literacies, Routledge. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2021.1986064
Biographical Note
Eleni Shaili is a PhD candidate in Language, Literacy and Education at the University of Cyprus, where she has been conducting research since September 2024. Her academic interests lie at the intersection of sociolinguistics, language pedagogy, AI in education, and digital literacies. Her work particularly focuses on artificial intelligence's role in identity negotiation and meaning-making processes in contemporary communicative practices. She explores these phenomena through postdigital and sociomaterial lenses, emphasising literacy's relational and multimodal nature. Alongside her doctoral research, Eleni is a Project Manager at CARDET, an NGO based in Cyprus. At CARDET, she contributes to European-funded education, sustainability, wellbeing, and social inclusion projects. Her work bridges theory and practice, integrating critical perspectives on digital innovation with hands-on experience in educational program design and implementation.