The Institute for Human Sciences (IWM) is organising the conference “AI and the Humanities” as part of its Digital Humanism program, in cooperation with TU Wien.
AI is reshaping research across all disciplines, and the Humanities are under particular pressure: their methods, their role in education and even their future are being questioned. The conference turns the question around. Instead of only asking what will be left of the Humanities in the age of AI, it asks what the Humanities can contribute to shaping AI and the way it enters society.
Program
| THURSDAY, 29 OCTOBER | ||
| 09:00 | Welcome Address | Michael Wiesmüller, Federal Ministry for Innovation, Mobility and Infrastructure |
| Opening Remarks | Ludger Hagedorn, IWM Permanent Fellow Hannes Werthner, TU Wien/Senior Fellow IWM |
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| Lecture: Not Raw, Never Neutral: Language in AI Systems and the Need for Semiotic Literacy | Britta Schneider, University of Vienna | |
| 11:00 | RESEARCH PRESENTATIONS | Moderated by Magdalena Krysztoforska, DH Fellow |
| Digital Heavens: AI methods for Philology and in Early Modern Astronomy | Doris Vickers, VHS Wien | |
| Being a Researcher in the Age of AI: Research Practices and the Changing Nature of Academic Work | Ivan Napoli, Catholic University of Milan | |
| Reasoning with Norms: From Sanskrit Philosophy to AI | Agata Ciabattoni, TU Wien Elisa Freschi, University of Vienna |
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| 14:00 | LECTURES AND DISCUSSION | Moderated by Faridah Muli, DH Fellow |
| Digital History, Computational Humanities: AI and Data Criticism | Thomas Wallnig, University of Vienna | |
| Reading What AI Has Read: How Automatic Text Recognition Changes Our Interaction With Historical Sources | Jan Odstrcilik, ÖAW | |
| 16:00 | PANEL DISCUSSION | Moderated by George Metakides |
| AI and the Humanities | Hana Kopecka, Viola Schiaffonati, Francesco Striano, Hannes Werthner | |
| FRIDAY, 30 OCTOBER | ||
| 09:00 | RESEARCH PRESENTATIONS | Moderated by Carlo Ghezzi |
| Who Is the Instrument? Working on Generative AI with the Vienna City Library | Bernhard Krüpl-Sypien, TU Wien Johannes Oster, TU Wien |
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| “It is no longer just your computer:” Narrative, the Humanities, and the Creation of Meaning in AI | Lisa Meinecke, LMU Munich | |
| Ethics for Recommenders | Julia Neidhardt, TU Wien Erich Prem, TU Wien |
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| 11:00 | PANEL DISCUSSION | Moderated by George Metakides |
| The Future of Knowledge Institutions | Anita Eichinger, Carlo Ghezzi, Ludger Hagedorn, Stefan Woltran | |
| 14:00 | ALUMNI MEETING | |
| Informal talk with current and former DH Fellows about ideas for networking and continued cooperation | With former Senior Fellows Viola Schiaffonati and George Metakides and program curators Hannes Werthner and Ludger Hagedorn |
Funded by the Federal Ministry of Innovation, Mobility and Infrastructure.