Are Media Actually a Medium and What if Not? Observing Recourse in the Discourse of Persuasiveness in Rhetorical Speech and Media Manipulation

Dr. Fee-Alexandra Haase

Abstract

This article discusses the question Are Media Actually a Medium and What if Not? Looking at the persuasiveness of rhetorical speech in the theory of rhetoric, contrasting it with manipulation techniques established by media as a crucial approach to the contemporary situation imposed by media on humans. After a distinction of the medium in the theory of rhetoric and media and the systematic stance of the concept of the medium as a stylistic means within the theory of rhetoric, we show in a case study of a speech produced by ChatGPT the differences between AI-generated imitative speech fabrication and human speech designed in accordance with rhetorical principles. Further, we distinguish the different frameworks of human communication stemming from rhetoric and technical media that result in the effect of altering the mind of a communicator exposed to them. In the last part we discuss and answer the initial question, presenting a model of media types based on their manipulative impact and the distinctive features of speech and the medium in the theory of rhetoric and content of media that are as containing and contained means of communication open to manipulation as an effect of an auxiliary recourse within a multi-layered discourse.

Keywords: Digital Media, Media Theory, Theory of Rhetoric, Artificial Intelligence