Trends and business models of new-smart-AI (NSAI) media

The term “new media” represents a complex field with a jungle of concepts and with increasing number of publications. In parallel, the rapidly changing digital trends indicate further challenges to find relevant definitions or theories for new media. The study argues that the most definitive trends are rooted in the technology-driven paradigm shifts from digitalisation to smart and (narrow) AI. These principal paradigms of digital technology facilitate the changing media logics with several facilitators and effects in society, culture and business. The question is how technological trends and their business models are manifested and what kind of forces, needs and values support them. Thus, the purpose of the study is to conceptualise the changing new media landscape along the digital transformation. The method, trend level analysis supports the understanding. Additionally, Fjord trend report extends this conceptualisation with interpretative and human-focused metaphors from designed intelligence to unusual business approach. Last but not least, the study discusses the possible extreme outputs of technology-driven media as ubiquitous media or invisible media. With these steps, the paper summarises the past decades and paradigm shifts of the new media in three dimensions to introduce the term of NSAI (new-smart-AI) media.