Research talk: Is AI for me? Perspectives from the humanities - enriching research with computational methods

Our miniseries returns after its summer break with part four, and we’re handing over to a new guest host, Peter Findlay, our subject matter expert for digital scholarship. In this episode, Peter is joined by professor of digital humanities at the University of Exeter, Leif Isaksen. From his undergraduate degree in philosophy at King’s College, Cambridge, Leif has gone on to work in Southampton’s archaeology department and Lancaster University’s history department. Now at the University of Exeter and as a fellow at the Alan Turing Institute, Leif’s interests are in spatial and temporal representation in the humanities - both in the ancient world and the modern one - and the paradigm of Linked Open Data to relate online resources about the past.

In this episode, Leif and Peter discuss the impact of digital approaches on historical map research, the emergence of new tools for large multidimensional map datasets and the development of map research at scale. They consider the impact of AI technologies, such as neural networks, and how they affect notions of truth and the role of humans in the research process. Together, they explore interdisciplinary working, how we can evolve a baseline set of capabilities for digital working, and the positive application of AI to learning, teaching and research.