National Seminar on Convergence of AI, DH and English Studies
On March 29, 2024, the Department of English at Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University held a seminar titled 'National Seminar on Convergence of AI, DH and English Studies'. This seminar explored how Artificial Intelligence (AI), Digital Humanities (DH), and English Studies intersect. It focused on topics such as:
- How AI can help analyze literature
- Using Digital Humanities for studying texts
- AI's role in teaching and learning language
- Considering ethical issues in AI and DH research
Future directions and potential collaborations in these fields
The seminar was organized by Prof. Dilip Barad, who heads the Department of English at MKBU, along with teaching assistants, PhD scholars, and students from the same department. Dr. Mahesh Chhabria, the Vice Chancellor of MKBU, and Dr. Bhavesh Jani, the Registrar of MKBU, supported the event.
Distinguished keynote speakers included:
- Prof. (Dr.) Nigam Dave from Pandit Deendayal Energy University, Gandhinagar
- Dr. Richa Srishti from CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Lavasa
- Dr. Richa Mishra from Nirma University, Ahmedabad
- Dr. Shoba K. N. from the National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research (NITTTR), Chennai
In his introductory remarks, Dilip Barad sir emphasized the importance of the theme of the national seminar. When something new is introduced, there is always resistance followed by acceptance. He illustrated this with the example of Plato, who emphasized that "Truth always lies in spoken words, not in their lies consisting of a claim to have beliefs different from those they actually have." It is for this reason that the spoken lie is called a mimema, or false reflection, of beliefs. He also mentioned the story of the Greek god of invention.
In the seminar, the majority of the participants were girls. Sir highlighted this fact with reference to the International Girls in ICT Day, which will be celebrated on April 25, 2024. He emphasized the importance of girls' empowerment in the field of digital literacy.
Value Neutrality of Deepfakes and Its Positive Implications :
The first speaker of the seminar was Nigam Dave, who presented on the topic "Value Neutrality of Deepfakes and Its Positive Implications." Deepfake refers to synthetic media. Sir started his presentation with a mythical reference to Christopher Marlow's Helen of Troy and Rishi Chyavan.
"When the winds of change blow, some people build walls, others build windmills." With this quotation, Sir advocates platforms such as My Chatbot and Wondershare Virbo. In the book "Thank You for Being Late" by Thomas Friedman, three "M's" are discussed: Mother Nature, marketing, and moodshow. The speaker then delved into the concept of fake identities in stories from around the world. Examples such as Shukanaya-Chayavan, Ravan, Bruhnalla, and Judo-lida were provided to reveal that this phenomenon is not new and has historical roots.
In the present time, ideas like body doubles, mimicry artists, and black markets for such activities persist. Just as the invention of guns, knives, and calculators was initially perceived as weaponry but later integrated into human life, similarly, Deepfake and AI are becoming essential aspects of our lives. Gorga Tech conducted a study on Jeelwatson.
Deepfake is misanthropic, but its impact depends on its use. Even some platforms like cheapfake, shallowfake, and textfake exist. Deepfake videos of Putin and Kerelaban were used as examples. Sir's remarks were true; likening the way Dr. Fustus sold his soul to Mephistopheles to how we are attached to our phones. David Beckham's video addressing malaria was shown as a positive impact of AI, using Deepfake to create multilingual videos. Dali lives where the idols of Mona Lisa with the help of Deepfake of Mona Lisa and Michael Jackson. The speaker highlighted the idea of voice banking of parents instead of relying on Siri or Alexa.
In diseases like ALS, patients' lives become easier through voice banking. With that, people gain virtual immortality. The speaker emphasized the idea of preserving Holocaust survivors through holograms, suggesting the same could be done for Partition survivors. Furthermore, the rising trend of fake influencers through deepfake technology was discussed. With deepfake, one can create identifiable chatbots and virtual teacher avatars like Eklavya, as well as aid in forensic reconstruction.
Ethical implications, such as cryptography and blockchain technology for safety, were highlighted. When addressing questions, the speaker noted that South Asian people use AI and deepfake technology extensively for spreading misinformation and disinformation. The talk concluded with the quote, "Just because something doesn't do what you planned it to do doesn't mean it's useless."
Engaging with Digital Humanities Tools, Techniques, and Scope :
The second speaker was Richa Mishra. She began by discussing the history of Digital Humanities, from Father Busa in 1949 to Lev Manovich. The speaker elaborated on distant reading using Punjabi songs as an example. She emphasized that data is no longer likened to oil but rather to soil. It is now time to transition from traditional research methods to the flow of DH research. Three major components of DH are digitized, born-digital, and reborn data. DH involves emerging technologies that extend human capacities, exploring how technologies affect human constructs, concerns, social relations, and the essence of being human.
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DH touches upon the area of visual analysis of data, sharing and annotating primary sources, discussing and publishing findings, and collaborating on research and teaching. Moreover, other fields like text mining, in which data is analyzed based on gender and language, as well as data mining, geopolitical analysis, network analysis, corpus linguistics, text encoding, and topic modeling, were discussed. The speaker provided tools for DH studies.
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The speaker worked on diverse topics. For instance, they conducted research on the study of the presence and problems of gendered language in the digital world, with a special reference to political reporting using AI. Through this, one can delve into language analysis and gender analysis. In the concluding part, the speaker discussed digital narratives such as Alan Bigelow's "How to Rob a Bank," "Core Value" by Benjamin Laird, and "A Dictionary of the Revolution" by Amira Hanafji.
The Role of AI in Creative Process: Rethinking Authorship
Core Values
Core Values
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The third speaker, Richa Srishti, discussed the Latin origin of the word "Artificial Intelligence," which means crafted or made with skill and the ability to discern or understand. "Author" traditionally means creator, but with the emergence of AI, the boundaries between human and machine blur. The speaker used multiple examples, such as "1 the Road" by AI, the first-gen artificial neural network, which is considered a genius writer. Additionally, she mentioned "Jean Boîte Édition" and "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac, highlighting a poem created collaboratively by AI and a human.Roland Barthes's idea of the Scriptor, "Scriptor has no past, but is born with the text," suggests that the author's identity is inseparable from the text itself.
Similarly, "the death of the author is the birth of the reader" implies that once a work is created, its interpretation lies in the hands of the reader. In Joe Fansler's work, "There is No I in AI," he discusses the positive impact of AI. Many platforms like Verse by Verse and Haiku Maker can assist in creative writing. The speaker referenced Jaron Lanier's quotation, "There are ways of controlling the new technology, but first, we have to stop mythologizing it."
This highlights the importance of understanding and controlling technology rather than idolizing it. Human creativity and the capabilities of technology go hand in hand, shaping the future of various fields. The speaker concluded the talk by advocating for the ethical and copyright implications of AI-generated creative works and their authorship. They emphasized, "Let the robots take our jobs, and let them help us dream up new work that matters."
AI for Teaching and Learning
The fourth speaker was Dr. Shobha K.N. She discussed the evolution of humans from the beginning to the present day. When working with technology, humans have two options for survival: fight or flight. However, the third way is adaptation. Adapting to technology makes things much easier for humans. AI, as a thought partner, should be accepted; otherwise, like cannibalization, it may replace humans.
Initially, knowledge was created by specialized individuals for specific people. Now, knowledge is created by everyone and used by everyone, liberating access to the internet and knowledge for all. From the printing press, typewriters, and digital technologies, humans have reached the World Wide Web. This journey, especially the development of technology, has made things much easier.
The speaker discussed three major figures in history: first, Benjamin Bloom with his taxonomy; second, Sal Khan, founder of Khan Academy; and third, Sam Altman, creator of AI. Their contributions are invaluable in the field. The speaker also highlighted the importance of one-to-one tutoring, an idea from Bloom, which flourished with Khan Academy and reached its zenith with OpenAI. Additionally, the speaker provided a list of platforms for teachers to enhance their teaching with the help of AI.
1. Tome App
2. Eduaide.AI
3.AI : Powered
4. Magil Tool
5. ALAYNA
6.PERPLEXITY
7. Curipod
8. Diffit
9. Duolingo
10. Brainly
12. Nao
13. Mika
14.Smart ED
15.Gradescope
In a way, all four speakers touched upon diverse topics, and their in-depth knowledge was reflected in their sessions. Their guidance in this new field of AI will be truly insightful for us. It was an enriching experience for us to be a part of it.
It was a fruitful seminar for the attendees. At this juncture, I would like to thank Dilip Barad sir for organizing this seminar. A huge congratulations to our organizing team. Vaidehi ma'am's leadership in assisting with the registration and certificate-making team is indeed commendable. Prakruti ma'am and Megha ma'am's contributions in handling the registration forms, online queries, and food arrangements are also outstanding. A big thanks to Kavish ma'am for working on the poster making, designing, and certificate creation. Kudos to the contribution of Ronak Bhai, through whom the hybrid seminar worked smoothly. These people were the backbone of the seminar, and their efforts made this seminar successful.
Kudos to the efforts of each volunteer, my classmates, and seniors who showed their teamwork spirit in handling this seminar. The seminar was not just fruitful for us because of the speakers; indeed, it was. But as a team, we learned so many things. So, thanks to Dilip Barad sir and all the madams for giving us the opportunity to learn.
Thank You.
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