The state of the art on quantitative exploration of artificial intelligence in communication research: key themes, core theories, and conceptual framework

In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has garnered considerable attention within the field of communication. To examine how AI has been quantitatively studied in this domain, a systematic literature review was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis guidelines. The review identified and analyzed 87 quantitative studies published in SSCI-indexed communication journals from 2018 to March 2025. Through thematic analysis, key research themes were identified, and the findings were discussed in light of the theories and models employed. Furthermore, this article introduces the Heuristic-Synthetic Framework of AI-Communication Research, grounded in theories and enriched by insights from existing scholarship, aiming to synthesize the current scholarship and provide a structured foundation for future research. Doing so, this study deepens our understanding of the field and offers valuable guidance for future research.