Reshaping and Incentivizing: Reconceptualizing Editorial Subjectivity in the Digital Intelligence Era

Abstract

In the age of digital intelligence, editorial subjectivity is undergoing significant transformation, calling for a reconsideration of the conventional subject–object dichotomy. This article conceptualizes editorial subjectivity as a form of intersubjectivity that emerges through ongoing interactions between humans and technology. In this context, editorial subjectivity increasingly takes shape through the interaction between human and machine intelligence. Within a framework of “human–machine hybrid subjectivity,” artificial intelligence and related technologies are reshaping editorial subjectivity along three dimensions: from individual to collective subjectivity, from linear to distributed subjectivity, and from experience-based to data-driven subjectivity. At the same time, the potential for technological systems to generate forms of alienation makes it necessary to reaffirm the editor’s central role in cultural production and ethical responsibility. Editors remain crucial to governing the use of technology, exercising cultural judgment, and maintaining normative and ethical orientations in increasingly intelligent editorial environments.