LEARNING COMMUNICATION[TO1] [TO2] [TO3]

To introduce the topic of learning communication, we have to define how we perceive this concept.
According to O'Rourke (2019) there is no doubt that communication is a process of invention.
Managers are regularly sensemaking through communication. In this paper, learning communication is
a constant process of observing how language develops and adjusting the way of how we communicate
in order to be able to always deliver a message effectively. For instance, there are more aspects
that influence how communication flows, such as one’s emotions, or even an industry-related
vocabulary. We will also describe how large corporations try to make use of these concepts while
teaching AI-based chatbots how to provide helping services. The initial two concepts influence the
effectiveness of how people deliver meaningful messages. When it comes to emotions in
communication, the use of humor will be described. For explaining how language develops and how the
communication needs to be adjusted, development of vocabulary in different settings will be
outlined. Thirdly, the role of artificial intelligence will be shown.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Humor

Taylor et al. (2021) claims that humor is a complex communication tool and an integral part of
work-based dialog providing better navigating in the dynamic workplace. There are different
approaches when defining humor. It comes in many forms and is usually associated with a smile or
laughter. Humor can be also defined as a state of mind, ability to understand and enjoy different
situations or a quality to cause amusement (Vuorela, 2005). Martineau (1972) defines humor as “any
communicative instance which is perceived as humorous”. Mesmer-Magnus et al. (2012) define another
term, sense of humor, as “a personality trait that enables a person to recognize and use successful
humor as a coping mechanism for social communication or interactions.”

Use of a positive sense of humor is associated with good physical and mental health and enhances
effective workplace functioning. (Mesmer-Magnus et. al, 2012) Main reason could be that humor works
as a coping mechanism. (Samson, Gross, 2012, Vetter et al., 2016) Samson and Gross (2012) also
mentioned that humor has been found to improve morale and reduce stress of employees. Gkorezis and
Bellou (2016) stated that humor, particularly willingness to make comments about a leader's
weaknesses, was perceived as honest communication and it was easier for leaders to gain trust from
employees. In addition, there has also been found a positive influence of humor on team overall
performance (Mao et al., 2017).

Another benefit of involving humor in workplace communication is better group cohesion (Smith et
al., 2014). It was discovered that humor serves to designate an employee's group status and to
sustain the uniformity of the group. On the other hand, negative outcomes were also observed. Humor
in organizational communication also caused segregation of the out-groups (Taylor et al., 2021).

Smith et al. (2014) claim that another important contribution of humor in organizational
communication is that it enables managers to discuss socially unacceptable topics. Firstly, because
humor is used to soften the impact of confrontation and secondly it reduces the possibility of
refusing manager's demands (Chefneux, 2015).

However, Smith et al. (2014) point out that there needs to be appropriate timing and situation for
usage of humor in a workplace. Also, it is very important which type of humor managers use, whether
it is positive or negative. Positive humor increases leader effectiveness, while negative humor is
significantly associated with worsening relationship behaviors (Decker et al., 2001). Furthermore,
Bitterly et al. (2017) found that inappropriate humor indicates lack of competence and can lower
leader status. However, what we understand as “appropriate” is yet to be determined.

In conclusion, we can consider humor as an important communication tool that improves the
performance of workers. On the other hand, it is important that it is supported by other
organizational mechanisms to be successfully implemented. (Smith et al., 2014) Taylor et al. (2021)
claims that organizations would benefit from understanding humor's influence and should provide
guidelines for humor to be used in contextually appropriate manner. Witt Smith et al. (2014)
further claim that organizations that understand functions of humor in the workplace and cascade
this knowledge to all employees could improve overall communication. The opportunities of
development are not only training leaders to be more spontaneous with humor but also developing
sensitivity to social cues from the environment to use humor effectively. (Rosenberg et al., 2021)

Newspeak

Second concept described here is the rise of industry-specific newspeaks and the development of
vocabulary depending on the social environment.

The example to start with is the use of language in the European Union, as in a diverse
multilingual institution. Van Els describes how use of English is pivotal to the communication in
the EU (van Els, 2010). He also describes the rise of institutional or ‘artificial’ languages in
different institutions. Specifically, the formulation is as follows: “There are also specialized
languages or language variants; almost every occupational group has its own specific variant to a
certain degree, which in any case distinguishes itself from other variants by its own jargon.”
Concrete examples could be words such as COREPERs, DGs (stands for Directorates-General) etc.

A similar example of a newspeak created for the need of an industry could be commonly used
corporate language. In corporate sphere terms such as SLAs, KPIs, PESTEL, VRIO, VLOOKUP and many
others form a standard daily vocabulary. It is much more effective to use these shortcuts to
deliver a message - and any person coming as a newcomer to a company or to a team must learn these
terms in order to be able to effectively participate in business-related communications (Bhatia,
Bremner, 2017). It delivers a coherence in communication in a similar way as above-mentioned humor.
Moreover, needed jargon can be team-specific, thus even internal promotion of an employee can mean
that a new set of language skills must be developed.

Chatbots

Developing a new set of language skills is also leading us to a theoretical base for the use case
in this paper, and it is the position of artificial intelligence in the process of learning
communication and how chatbots can be taught and used in real life. As described by Nghi et. al.
chatbots can be practically used for facilitating tuitions of foreign languages to students (Nghi
et. al., 2019). Such chatbots are capable of increased patience and better adjustment of the level
tailored for each student. It can deliver tuition in a practically unlimited set of different
languages. Furthermore, chatbots can be used in a commercial environment, for example chatbots on
helpdesks.

AI-based chatbots can provide several benefits, including the ability to handle a large volume of
inquiries simultaneously and 24/7 availability. This can help improve customer satisfaction and
reduce the workload for customer service teams. AI-based chatbots can also provide personalized
experiences for customers by using machine learning to understand the customer's needs and offer
relevant information and assistance (Gkinko, Elbanna, 2022).

However, there are also potential drawbacks to using AI-based chatbots. One issue is that, while
they can handle simple inquiries, they may struggle with more complex or nuanced questions. This
can lead to frustration for customers who are trying to get help with a specific problem and do not
receive the assistance they need. Another potential issue is that, if not implemented correctly,
AI-based chatbots can seem impersonal and may not be able to provide the level of empathy and
understanding that a human customer service representative could. On the other hand, the emotions
that human users usually feel when interacting with an AI-based chatbot are understanding,
compassion and gratefulness (Gkinko, Elbanna, 2022).

Additionally, there are concerns about the potential negative effects of AI on employment. As
AI-based chatbots become more advanced, they may be able to handle a wider range of tasks,
potentially replacing some jobs that are currently performed by humans. This could lead to job
losses in industries that rely on customer service and support, although it is also possible that
new jobs will be created as a result of the increasing use of AI (Makriadis, 2017).[TO4]

CASE STUDY FOCUSED ON CZECH MOBILE OPERATORS

The chatbot of Czech mobile operators was chosen for the research problem. Customer service has
already left the concept of physical visits to stores or telephone communication with operators at
call centers. With digitalization, customer expectations are changing very quickly. It is very
important to provide a customized response and, above all, speed of response to the customer's
request.

Companies are reaching out to their customers and are starting to offer the option to communicate
via chat bot on their websites or social networks like Facebook or Instagram. Thus, we observe
companies' efforts to gradually expand communication channels with their stakeholders. These
efforts are designed to address general queries as well as service and sales requirements. As part
of these initiatives, simple chatbots were initially introduced to act as an initial "filter" to
obtain information from customers to help evaluate the customer's request and then transfer it to a
dedicated employee, speeding up communication and saving valuable employee time. In this way, it is
also possible to communicate with clients in 7/24 mode (Albayrak, Özdemir, 2018).

The research also found that mobile operators' chatbots try to create a relaxed atmosphere with
humorous "catchphrases" or jokes. These findings are consistent with and fully support the theory
of authors (Taylor et al., 2021) and (Chefneux, 2015), where humor is used to mitigate the impact
of confrontation and can positively facilitate negotiation.

A similar concept has been introduced by operators in the past in relation to the "automated
machine" in self-service, where the customer reached the appropriate staff member by entering
digits as instructed by the machine via a call to customer support. It is therefore clear that
mobile operators have some experience with this method of communication.

The main advantage of the chatbot is seen in the speed and flexibility of communication, where
customers save time and can easily explain even complex e.g. technical questions. However, the
chatbot also has many other possibilities, for example, it enables online document exchange. It
also allows internally for greater service efficiency, where the employee subsequently communicates
simultaneously with multiple clients at the same time after completing the chatbot evaluation.

As AI advances, chatbots are increasingly being given the ability to process and handle customer
requests. Communication is refined based on machine learning, with the system undergoing regular
improvements and the chatbot itself receiving input and data as it interacts. The process itself
reduces the requirements for the human element in operation, but increases the requirements in
software and hardware, as companies have to allocate more resources to operate the chatbot itself
(Hill, Randolph, 2015).

The case study examined the capabilities of all three major mobile operators, namely Vodafone, O2
and Tesco Mobile. The different aspects and the difficulties identified have been summarized in
dedicated sections[TO5]  of this study.

Vodafone

Vodafone company is using a chatbot called TOBi on its website for initial communication and
support. In addition to the default questions, which are often related to the most frequently asked
questions (FAQ), it is also possible to use ordinary conversations, where the robot deciphers the
question from words and chooses accordingly from a number of preset answers. Vodafone's chatbot
works without significant difficulties, it uses a number of different answers to the exact same
problem, and the whole conversation thus feels pleasant and human-like (Vodafone, 2022).

According to Vodafone, the chatbot TOBi provides immediate and relevant online support, thanks to
which it solves more than 70 % of customer questions without any human input (Vodafone, 2022).

O2

The company O2 uses the so-called virtual assistant Eva as part of their AI communication. The
appearance of this chatbot and the name therefore tries to appear more human compared to Vodafone's
chatbot TOBi. At the beginning, the virtual assistant also asks a question, encourages
communication, and offers a series of preset frequently repeated questions. When communicating, it
uses cheerful emoticons, responds with humorous GIFs, but the depth of the answers is not as varied
as with Vodafone's chatbot (O2, 2022).

The company itself then mentions in its statement that customers can look forward to humorous meme
images and various interesting facts from the world of sustainability and the environment when
using this AI chatbot support. The deployment of the chatbot is a part of an action plan within the
wider marketing campaign of O2, the aim of which is to reduce the carbon footprint produced by the
company and its users (MediaGuru, 2022).

Tesco Mobile

Tesco has established a virtual assistant SURI for intelligent internet communication. At the
beginning of the communication, a short message is recorded, which the customer can start and play
for themselves, then state a question or choose from several given options. The SURI assistant is
less communicative than the previous two platforms, however, it uses more preset options that
automatically offer answers in specific areas (Tesco Mobile, 2022).

Overall, as stated above, the chatbots of these mentioned Czech mobile operators significantly
reduce the need of human element in communication, shorten the lead time between a question asked
and question solved and give the customer much needed choice for their own preferred type of
communication.

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________________________________

 [TO1]missing names, date, subject….

 [TO2]Why these topics? Aspects?

How to teach humor?

What are the ethical aspects regarding humor?

What is the origin of the term newspeak?

What are the problems with newspeak?

What is the connection of your case study to the topic of learning communication?

 [TO3]Overall good, but to many different topics. I need you to make it more coherent (add
something between or choose one or two topics, you can even change the main topic of the
assignment). Furthermore, please check the formal stuff (title page, citations, etc.).

 [TO4]What are your thoughts and not just rephrased? Uncertainty regarding own impact

 [TO5]Where?

 [TO6]incosistent

 [TO7]redo