Artificial Intelligence and Humanities Research
Artificial Intelligence and Humanities Research
AI and Humanities research, today
AI is influencing the way we communicate knowledge and conduct research.
AI itself is not a new concept – its roots go back to the 1950s. What is new, however, is the scale, accessibility, commercialisation, and especially the capabilities of contemporary AI systems. As a result, AI is now widely available, integrated into myriad platforms and tools, reaching millions of users and reshaping industries, research, and creative practices.
AI technologies have been increasingly used in Humanities research, especially in the field of Digital Humanities, and are already having a significant impact. They enable scholars to explore large-scale cultural collections, uncover hidden patterns, trace historical trends, and link disparate sources.
The broad availability of AI tools has also extended beyond specialised research tasks to become integrated into common aspects of Humanities research, related to writing, teaching, and professional practice. These include everyday activities such as drafting and editing text, generating summaries, supporting language translation, creating visual or multimedia content, managing bibliographies, and enhancing communication and collaboration. As a result, AI is increasingly shaping not only how research is conducted, but also how knowledge is taught, shared, and applied within the Humanities.
“AI technologies have been increasingly used in Humanities research… and are already having a significant impact.”
Rationale for this resource
This resource is not intended to function as a prescriptive set of policies. Instead, it is designed to equip researchers with the information and questions needed to make informed choices about the use of AI. This resource helps you answering the question if you should be using AI, and if so, how to do this technology responsibly.
This research- and practice-informed resource aim to foster awareness, reflection, and informed decision-making, enabling researchers not just to follow rules, but to engage actively and responsibly with AI technologies as they develop. It should be read alongside existing University of London policies, while offering an agile and responsive entry point into the rapidly evolving AI landscape.
It comprises an AI primer that introduces the history and basic types of AI, explores how AI can be used in Humanities research and addresses how these tools can be applied responsibly.
Header image: Elise Racine / https://betterimagesofai.org / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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