Reflections on AI in Humanities

Abstract

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues advancing rapidly, there is growing potential for its application in the humanities to uncover new insights and perspectives from the historical archives. However, it is also important to consider how AI tools themselves may unintentionally perpetuate existing biases if not developed conscientiously. This critical reflection reflects on the opportunities and challenges of utilising AI to amplify marginalised voices that have been traditionally excluded or underrepresented in mainstream historical narratives, with a focus on women. Through natural language processing and computer vision techniques, AI shows promise in automating the analysis of large volumes of text, image, and multimedia sources to bring to the surface female narratives previously overlooked due to limitations of manual research methods. However, issues such as training data bias, problematic stereotypes learned from legacy sources, and a lack of diversity among AI researchers threaten to replicate the very inequities they are seeking to overcome if not addressed proactively. Collaborative frameworks and design principles centred on representation, accountability and community oversight are needed. By critically examining its social responsibilities and impacts, this reflection argues that AI possesses great potential in the service of feminist and intersectional scholarship when guided appropriately. It calls for continued multidisciplinary dialogue to help ensure technologies amplify marginalised voices rather than risk their further marginalisation.