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To ensure that courses on intercultural communication prepare students for the realities of intercultural communication in an AI-transformed world, Professor Sara Kim (North Central College, IL, USA) and I, Anastassia Zabrodskaja, have extended our telecollaboration project into its fifth year. What began as an exploration of intercultural interaction has now evolved into a combined focus on intercultural theory and AI-driven communication, reflecting how artificial intelligence increasingly mediates and reshapes human exchanges.

Online joint assignments have become a central feature of our intercultural communication courses, which we both hold at our institutions, where we experiment with pedagogical approaches that integrate intercultural competence frameworks with critical discussions of AI tools. These sessions invite students to evaluate how machine learning, language models, and automated translation systems influence intercultural encounters, both enabling and complicating communication across cultural boundaries.

Students from Tallinn University’s MA Programme in Communication Management actively participate in this initiative. Their involvement ensures that the telecollaboration is not only academically rigorous but also closely aligned with professional training in global communication and media. Working alongside peers from North Central College, these MA students bring diverse perspectives from their coursework and professional backgrounds, enriching the joint projects. The virtual collaboration provides them with hands-on experience in applying intercultural theory while critically examining the impact of AI tools on real-world communication practices.

The telecollaboration is firmly embedded into the semester curriculum and plays a key role in guiding students toward deeper cultural awareness in technologically mediated contexts. Students undertake projects analyzing how AI tools shape understanding between culturally diverse individuals, while also building essential soft skills such as empathy, cultural adaptability, and critical digital literacy. By interrogating AI’s role in communication, they learn not only how algorithms can support dialogue but also how they may amplify bias, overlook nuance, or distort intent.

One of the project’s main objectives is to train students to recognize and respond to AI-driven misinterpretations—ranging from mistranslations to cultural insensitivity in automated outputs. These challenges mirror real-world dilemmas in global workplaces, where AI is often deployed as a communication bridge but can inadvertently create friction. Developing strategies to cope with such breakdowns strengthens students’ resilience and intercultural problem-solving skills.

Equally crucial is cultivating tolerance, openness, and reflexivity in AI-mediated spaces. As students collaborate virtually, they learn that intercultural sensitivity must now extend not only across human differences but also into the digital systems that mediate those differences. Embracing this dual awareness allows them to function effectively in multicultural, AI-enhanced environments where human and machine communication intersect.

As we advance into the fifth year of this project, we eagerly anticipate the insights that students will contribute. Their reflections remain vital in refining this initiative, ensuring that it addresses both the enduring importance of intercultural theory and the emerging influence of artificial intelligence in shaping human interaction.

For additional information, please reach out to Dr. Anastassia Zabrodskaja, Professor of Intercultural Communication, Head of the MA program in Communication Management, and Executive Director of the European Masters in Intercultural Communication, at anastassia.zabrodskaja@tlu.ee.