Distinguished Lectures in Humanities: Humanities Research in a Datafied World

Abstract

In this talk I examine the role of humanities research where nearly every aspect of human experience is turned into data and analysed, in many cases to model, predict and modify behaviour. As a result and through advances in computing technology, artificial intelligence systems have colonised traditional areas of humanities research, including linguistics and language studies. Today, large multimodal models (LMM) can process text, images, videos and sound, potentially leading to the development of algorithmic approaches to modelling society and culture. In this talk, I explore how humanities researchers can leverage the benefits and mitigate the risks of these latest technological developments and prepare scholars for the challenges which lie ahead. I provide some examples from the Digital Media and Society Institute (DMSI) at the University of Liverpool where communication and media researchers are working with data scientists to investigate how multimodal information is re-contextualised across online media platforms. This includes new methods for studying information distortions (e.g. misinformation, disinformation and memes) and public reactions to key events.

About the speaker

Professor Kay O’HALLORAN is Head of the Department of Communication and Media and Co-Director of the Digital Media and Society Institute (DMSI) at the University of Liverpool. Professor O’HALLORAN’s research field is multimodal analysis involving the study of language, images and other resources in texts, interactions and events. Over the past two decades, she has focused on the development and use of digital tools and techniques for multimodal analysis and mixed methods approaches to big data analytics of online communications. She has developed research programmes and secured competitive grant funding to establish and lead multidisciplinary teams to deliver research outcomes in these areas. Her current research involves context-based information fusion approaches for analysis of online and social media.