MITIGATING NEGATIVE PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS CPEC THROUGH AI-DRIVEN COMMUNICATION, COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND TRANSPARENCY

Abstract

This research investigates the potential of AI-driven communication strategies to enhance transparency, create trust, and improve stakeholder engagement in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to confront the obstacles presented by negative perceptions. This study gathered data from 211 residents of the Baluchistan and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) provinces who are directly or indirectly associated with CPEC programs. This research utilized quantitative techniques and PLS-SEM to analyze the data. The findings of the study show that community engagement (CE) has a vital role in addressing the negative perception concerns (NPC) related to CPEC projects. As can be seen, transparency (TR) has a considerable influence in enhancing community engagement and, therefore, addressing adverse impressions. Nonetheless, there is very little association between communication (COM) and CE, as well as negative perception directly. In the study, the moderating role of artificial intelligence (AI) is also investigated, and the findings indicate that communication significantly determines the engagement of the community, and the presence of AI increases the effect of communication on community engagement. However, it does not moderate the relationship between transparency and community engagement. Such results emphasize the role of information disclosure and AI-mediated communication in engaging local communities and mitigating concerns regarding large infrastructure ventures.