Virtual Seminar: What can AI do for the Humanities and Social Sciences? (Sep 9, 2020)
Channel: Uppsala universitet
Date: 10/09/2020

Title: What can AI do for the Humanities and Social Sciences? Methods, Ethics, and Epistemologies Across Disciplines

Event recorded on Zoom.

Date: 9th of September 2020 

Invited speakers: 
- Jan von Bonsdorff at the Department of Art History
- David Sumpter at the Department of Information Technology
- Anna-Sara Lind at the Department of Law (not in the video) 
- Fredrik Wahlberg at the Department of Linguistics and Philology

Artificial Intelligence has been trending in human culture and society, from philosophy to science fiction and art, for decades. From Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics, which, in a dystopian universe of biological and synthetic beings, were intended to protect humans from evil robots, to C-3PO and R2-D2 thwarting the Empire in Star Wars. AI is currently more than mere science fiction. Its broader and potentially more significant effects for humanity are yet to be researched and explored. Digital technology already raises new questions around epistemologies, ethics and policy regulations. But with cutting-edge technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), or Image Pattern Recognition (IPR) there are additional concerns. Can mathematics and algorithms, essentially descriptive models, encompass the human condition? Is AI and Machine Learning applicable to facilitate critical research that concerns different socio-cultural contexts?

The seminar explores the societal implications of rapidly advancing intelligence systems, combining a humanities perspective with practical applications spanning historical research to contemporary legal inquiry.