workshops

Culture, Data and the Humanities in the Age of AI – Seminar (Dublin)

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The use of machine learning to study patterns of cultural and social change has developed very rapidly in the last decade and the insights from this kind of research are urgently needed in a context where AI tools are rapidly proliferating, raising issues of ethics, trust and epistemology. In this context, this half day colloquium will reflect on the experience of collaborative research between data science and the humanities and the potential it offers for new insights, resources and methodologies. It will hear from researchers on two milestone projects, reflecting on the nature of their collaboration, lessons for future research and reflecting with Irish researchers on the collaborative path forward.

The Ed Ruscha Streets of Los Angeles Archive at the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles brought together an international team of art historians, media analysts, architects, urban planners, information specialists and software engineers with Getty staff to document, interpret, and debate the Streets of Los Angeles Archive, which was created by the artist Ed Ruscha beginning in 1965 and continuing over the subsequent fifty years.

Living with Machines was a flagship collaborative humanities and science research initiative at the Alan Turing Institute, bringing together historians, data scientists, geographers, computational linguists, library professionals, and curators to examine the human impact of industrial revolution. Developing new tools, methods and resources it exemplifies the capacity to analyse at scale and produce new insights and analysis through such collaboration.

Speakers: Eric Rodenbeck (Stamen), Dr. Emily Pugh (Getty Research Institute), Prof. Mark Shiel (King’s College London), Dr. Katherine McDonough & Dr. Daniel Wilson (The Alan Turing Institute)

More information:

This event is co-organised by the UCD Centre for Cultural Analytics and Insight Research Ireland Centre for Data Analytics, and will feature visiting speakers from the Getty Research Institute and the Alan Turing Institute.

Venue: UCD Conway Lecture Theatre (B039), University College Dublin
Date: 7th March 2025
Time: 12.00-16.30

Registration here.

Doing AI Differently – Workshop (UK)

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The Doing AI Differently initiative challenges traditional approaches to AI development by positioning humanities perspectives as integral—rather than supplemental—to technical innovation.

London Workshop, Date & Venue:

  • Date: Thursday, 13 March 2025, 10am-4pm
  • Location: The Royal Academy of Engineering (Prince Philip House), London SW1
  • Working group sessions: continue on Friday, 14 March 2025, 10am-4pm
  • Aligned with the Alan Turing Institute’s major annual conference (AIUK) on 17-18 March

The workshop is an early opportunity to discover and help to refine the research vision and topic scope for an Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC–UKRI) International Science Partnerships Fund (ISPF) funding call launching April 2025. This call will focus on UK, US and Canadian collaborations.

Core Challenges

1. Developing Interpretive Technologies.

Leveraging current AI architectures to implement deeper interpretive capabilities, developing approaches to represent multiple perspectives and capture semantic depth while maintaining computational tractability.

2. Exploring Alternative AI Architectures.

Exploring fundamentally new approaches to AI design that move beyond current limitations in foundation models and gradient-based learning to enable more pluralistic and culturally adaptive AI systems.

3. Advancing Human-AI Ensembles

Moving beyond simple substitution or assistance models, to foster new relationships between human and artificial intelligence, each contributing unique capabilities to achieve outcomes neither could accomplish alone.

Initiative Objectives:

1. Develop pilot projects demonstrating humanities-driven technical advances in AI

2. Establish funding mechanisms fostering interdisciplinary partnerships

3. Create scalable pathways for humanities scholars to participate in large-scale AI projects

Expected Outcomes:

– New paradigms for addressing complex, context-dependent tasks in AI

– Enhanced AI tools for deep contextual analysis across disciplines

– AI systems better aligned with societal values and ethical considerations

The rapid advances in increasingly sophisticated AI systems makes this timing critical, and we seek to develop inclusive, research-led ideas that will provide practical ways to address some of the recommendations set out in the recent UK Government AI Opportunities Action Plan. This initiative adds the opportunities for research and innovation in AI – artificial intelligence – in the UK (see Transforming our world with AI).

More Information:

  • View our complete vision statement: doingaidifferently.org
  • To attend please complete an expression of interest HERE by 17 February 2025. We will be in touch to confirm your attendance by 19 February 2025.
  • A limited number of bursaries are available to support travel costs for participants who do not have other institutional support. See expression of interest form for details.
  • Capacity for the in-person workshop is limited. The workshop will also be available to stream online, with some opportunities for interaction for remote participants. 
  • A list of recommended hotels is available on request.