Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Jan 2026

Expanding Human-in-the-Loop: Critical Sensemaking for Technical and Professional Communication With Generative AI

Gustav Verhulsdonck Central Michigan University ; Jialei Jiang University of Pittsburgh

Abstract

This article proposes a sensemaking methodology to enhance human-in-the-loop technical and professional communication (TPC) practices when working with generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) output, which is often ambiguous and not always accurate. Sensemaking describes actions and cognitive strategies humans use to make sense of new/ambiguous information. We argue that sensemaking can help TPC students navigate making sense of GenAI output for better judgment in evaluating AI output. Particularly, we leverage sensemaking's Situation-Gap-Bridge-Outcome framework as a heuristic to identify situational contexts outside of GenAI, gaps in knowledge, create bridges for those gaps, and evaluate outcomes and connect this to extant TPC literature and discuss its implications.

Journal
Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Published
2026-01-12
DOI
10.1177/00472816251405787
Open Access
Closed
Topics
artificial intelligence professional writing multilingual writers

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (0)

No articles in this index cite this work.

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