Editor-in-Chief Lecture
Author
Department of Knowledge and Information Science, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran. Director-in-Charge, Journal of Human–Information Interaction
Abstract
The digital age and the rapid emergence of transformative technologies have fundamentally reshaped the landscape of human knowledge, communication, and social relations. The central challenge of the information age has consequently shifted from scarcity and limited access to information toward an unprecedented abundance—an environment characterized by information overload, the exponential growth of big data, and relentless exposure to news and digital content. In this increasingly complex, fluid, and interconnected environment, Human–Information Interaction (HII) can no longer be viewed as a peripheral specialization or merely an instrumental concern within information studies. It has emerged as a foundational and inherently interdisciplinary field that provides a critical lens for rethinking the nature of cognition, knowledge, and truth in the contemporary era. HII invites us to reconsider information not as static objects stored in databases, but as dynamic and consequential forces that actively shape human cognition, decision-making, behavior, and social life.
The remarkable advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are further transforming the role of human beings within information ecosystems. Humans are increasingly moving beyond the traditional roles of data processors and information retrievers toward higher-order activities such as sense making, problem framing, and strategic judgment. These cognitive processes require humans to determine which problems and crises deserve attention, define overarching goals and priorities, and transform vast quantities of raw and often disordered data into meaningful, reliable, and actionable knowledge. This transformation is significant: rather than eliminating human agency, AI technologies have the potential to relocate it to higher levels of critical thinking, problem formulation, contextual interpretation, and value-based judgment. The challenge, therefore, is not simply to develop more intelligent machines, but to understand how human intelligence and machine intelligence can be meaningfully and responsibly integrated.
Building on advanced cognitive and behavioral models, HII provides a powerful intellectual bridge between cognitive science, information systems engineering, and social epistemology. It seeks to illuminate the often-overlooked dimensions of how individuals perceive, interpret, evaluate, trust, and act upon information. From an epistemological perspective, contemporary information environments have created favorable conditions for the proliferation of phenomena such as misinformation and disinformation, echo chambers, filter bubbles, and confirmation bias. These phenomena can profoundly distort the boundaries between evidence, knowledge, belief, and truth. Research in HII therefore has an important role to play in addressing these challenges through transparent and explainable system design, the cultivation of intellectual virtues, and the advancement of information literacy. Such efforts are essential for mitigating epistemic negligence and intellectual naivety, rebuilding user trust, and ensuring that technological innovation contributes to the advancement of human understanding rather than the erosion of epistemic integrity.
At the broader sociotechnical level, algorithmic mediation and platform architectures increasingly shape the conditions under which people exercise choice, protect their privacy, and express their agency. These systems are not neutral infrastructures; their design choices, recommendation mechanisms, interfaces, and governance structures can subtly influence human behavior and decision-making. Accordingly, principles such as meaningful human control over automated systems, clear allocation of ethical responsibility, and sensitivity to cultural and context-specific forms of knowledge have become essential considerations. Such principles are particularly important for ensuring that information technologies do not become instruments of digital colonialism, pervasive surveillance, or asymmetrical forms of power, but instead contribute to human autonomy, equity, and flourishing.
Against this global backdrop, however, a critical and realistic assessment of the current state of Knowledge and Information Science in Iran reveals a substantial gap between the discipline’s established academic traditions and the rapidly evolving information landscape. Much of the educational infrastructure, university curricula, and research agenda of the field remains anchored in traditional, library-centered paradigms, longstanding approaches to the organization of physical information resources, and classical models of information retrieval. Although these foundations remain valuable, they are no longer sufficient on their own to address the rapidly changing realities of digital ecosystems, generative AI, the platform economy, algorithmically mediated environments, evolving patterns of online information behavior, and the emergence of new forms of information-related risk.
This structural inertia and the limited systematic attention given to HII within Iranian universities and research institutions carry significant academic and societal consequences. Most importantly, they risk widening the gap between the discipline and the evolving needs of the information society, contemporary organizations, digital enterprises, policymakers, and a new generation of researchers and information users. At a time when individuals and institutions are increasingly confronted with misinformation, declining levels of information and media literacy, algorithmic opacity, and rapidly changing modes of human–technology interaction, the absence of a systematic and sustained research agenda in HII may weaken the academic relevance of the discipline and gradually erode its intellectual authority.
The transition toward contemporary research in HII and the serious, systematic, and multidisciplinary incorporation of this field into Iranian universities and research institutions should therefore not be regarded as an optional academic embellishment. It is, rather, a strategic and vital imperative for renewing and redefining the intellectual identity of Knowledge and Information Science. Embracing HII offers Iranian scholars and graduates an opportunity to move beyond the role of passive consumers of imported technologies and instead become active contributors to the design, evaluation, and governance of information environments. They can assume more influential roles as creative system designers, critical technology evaluators, analysts of information behavior, and architects of indigenous, human-centered, equitable, and cognitively informed information systems.
Such a transformation would not imply abandoning the intellectual heritage of Knowledge and Information Science. On the contrary, it would provide an opportunity to extend and renew that heritage in response to the realities of the digital age. By placing human cognition, behavior, agency, ethics, and epistemology at the center of inquiry, the discipline can strengthen its theoretical foundations while simultaneously addressing pressing real-world problems. A renewed research agenda centered on HII could thus revitalize the scholarly community, foster meaningful interdisciplinary collaboration, and position Knowledge and Information Science as a significant contributor to the scientific, technological, and cultural development of Iran in the digital era.
In this spirit, the Journal of Human–Information Interaction at Kharazmi University is pleased to announce its commitment to receiving, rigorously reviewing, and publishing original, innovative, and theoretically and empirically grounded research conducted by faculty members, graduate students, and leading scholars in the field. The journal seeks to provide a dynamic scholarly forum for advancing HII research, fostering interdisciplinary dialogue, and connecting theoretical innovation with the complex information challenges confronting contemporary society. Through this endeavor, we hope to contribute meaningfully to the expansion of the frontiers of knowledge and to the development of a more human-centered, responsible, and contextually informed information society.
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