Our Mission: We want to establish an artificial intelligence (AI) lab in the Division of Humanities as a collaborative working space to harness AI tools for creative ingenuity to benefit humanity. As individual researchers, we pursue diverse interests in linguistics, computational media, education, historical research, science fiction, and computational text analysis. Although our disciplines may offer differing perspectives, a Humanistic AI Lab at UCSC will provide a collaborative environment where our students and faculty can develop innovative methods and techniques, marrying the worlds of AI and humanistic discovery. By doing so, we can forge ahead in the fierce competition of AI development while retaining the essence of what makes us human. This funding will enable our team to pioneer how to harness AI technologies to advance the practical application of collaborative and individual humanistic inquiry and craft pedagogies to train the next generation of humanists. We are committed to preserving human values and promoting inclusivity, and we’re thrilled to be at the forefront of this transformative path to attract more resources in the future.
Vision and Goals: The University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) will expand its academic frontiers with our proposed Humanities AI Lab. Our team aims to provide a platform that empowers learning and innovation, creating an invaluable nexus to cultivate interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research and bridging the gap between AI systems and humanities. Recently, powerful generative AI methods, like ChatGPT, have revolutionized text analysis tools, enabling real research with text in the last five years. At the same time, the chat-style interface of these tools means that one can use natural language as the interface with the model, opening these technologies up to scholars without a deep background in machine learning. There is thus a real opportunity for new and transformative forms of textually-grounded humanistic research. The Humanities AI Lab offers scholars a unique opportunity to automate, generate, and simulate humanistic methodologies, linking them to unconventional lines of inquiry. With expert training, support, and a workshop environment, we empower researchers to advance their endeavors and explore new frontiers. The Humanities AI Lab members can train language models to the next level, empowering members to design and refine custom prompts. This innovative approach can be applied to analyze specific metaphors in various historical documents, from dense Sanskrit sutras to the works of Isaac Newton and classical Chinese texts. The endless possibilities open new doors to evaluate texts in ways never imagined.
Significance: ChatGPT encapsulates our hopes and fears towards AI—but do we truly understand its impact on our world? We must transcend these feelings and confront AI technologies with new political and humanistic horizons, expanding our understanding of its danger and potential. According to political theorist Davide Pagania, the prevalent concept of a surveillance state apparatus is no longer fit to explain the “algorithmic governance” of our daily and political actions. As generative AI gains more power in our intellectual space, how can we effectively partner with it as we move forward in the political arena? Balancing the generative capabilities of AI with human ingenuity is vital to thriving in this new world. Our Humanities AI Lab holds tremendous value as it delves into unexplored areas of intellectual collaboration between AI and humans, yielding real-world implications. In other words, we see Humanities AI Lab as an artist’s atelier, not an art gallery. At the Humanistic AI Lab, we aspire to foster an environment where AI tools are encouraged through active experimentation, even among those with a critical view of contemporary AI research.
The Humanities AI Lab distinguishes itself from other initiatives by focusing on practical application rather than just theory and criticism. By fostering an immersive experience with AI technologies, the Humanities AI Lab nurtures a more nuanced understanding of its capabilities and risks for humanities research. Such an experiential approach enables researchers working with AI technologies to be mindful of human agency and empowers humanities graduates with new skills. In the face of a disruptive job sphere, this innovative program is gearing up students to be valuable contributors to future AI research and industry.
As a center for collaborative and interdisciplinary scholarship, the Humanities AI Lab will also galvanize team-based, multi-investigator research, a novel model for disciplines that continue to promote single-authored, solitary research. Our focus on educational application, computational text analysis, and data visualization empowers students and researchers to leverage AI technologies and gain a competitive edge in analysis, discovery, and creativity. They will explore new patterns and insights in humanistic inquiries, heightening the uniqueness and creativity of their work. Put simply, we should shift our apprehension and concerns surrounding ChatGPT to a more optimistic outlook, promoting positive change. The AI Lab endeavors to revolutionize our approach to education, engaging proactively with our students as co-creators in the learning process. We aim to redefine how knowledge is shared and received to foster a deeper appreciation and understanding of the humanities.
Impact and Feasibility: Analyzing AI’s ethical aspects from a humanities perspective is crucial to addressing algorithmic governance, privacy, transparency, and accountability concerns. This approach will aid in creating ethical frameworks for developing and deploying AI that aligns with human values and promotes societal well-being, thereby mitigating the ethical concerns raised by the use of AI in society.
AI can change how society functions in education, employment, healthcare, and governance. To understand how AI affects our lives, relationships, and decision-making processes, examining its impact on society through the humanities is crucial. Our project provides valuable insights for policymakers, organizations, and individuals in navigating the challenges and opportunities presented by AI. The focus is on preserving human values and promoting inclusivity.
The humanities provide helpful methods for analyzing and understanding cultural items, stories, and expressions. With the rise of AI and its ability to process large amounts of data, we can explore how AI affects cultural creation, depiction, and consumption. Additionally, we can see how AI can improve the study and preservation of cultural heritage.
Integrating humanities into AI discussion can offer a human-centered perspective beyond pure technicalities. Our project aims to facilitate critical reflection and public discourse on the impact of AI on society. Scholars, policymakers, technologists, and the general public can examine AI’s potential benefits and risks through in-depth discussions and debates. We will strive to uphold the ideal that AI development aligns with humanistic values, social justice, and equity.
Activities & Approach: Each proposed AI methodology will be rigorously tested in our Humanities AI lab. Our criteria include veracity, innovation, creativity, and other factors to determine the validity and effectiveness of the proposed AI methodology. Our team will convene monthly to assess these criteria and explore building the Humanities AI Lab as a syndicate of innovative methodologies. Every quarter, we will meet to assess progress, identify strengths and weaknesses, and explore possibilities for collaboration. The Humanities Institute (THI) cluster hosts a quarterly workshop to brainstorm ideas and features exceptional speakers presenting new approaches to the lab. Most members participate in THI and the lab, creating a dynamic environment for fruitful exchange. Monthly meetings will serve as an open forum for shared feedback and discussion. We strive to create an artist’s atelier-style lab where creativity and innovation can flourish. The Humanities AI lab will interface with each member’s project and seek to share innovative methodologies. In this way, the Humanities AI lab can collect, assess, and disseminate best practices.