Speaker
Description
Modern artificial intelligence is radically changing all disciplines, including the humanities. Today, AI is largely rooted in machine learning or deep learning. A decade ago, researchers needed a strong background in statistics and computer science to apply machine learning to projects, but this is no longer the case. With the approachability of machine learning through Python frameworks like PyTorch, TensorFlow, Keras, FastAI, and spaCy, digital humanists are in a unique position. If we can learn Python (which is one of the easier programming languages to learn), we can apply machine learning to our projects with just a few lines of code. Given the approachability of Python and the effect machine learning is having on the humanities, it makes more sense for the humanist of today to learn to code than to not.
In this talk, we will be focusing on how humanists can benefit from programming regardless of their project or area of expertise. We will cover subjects ranging from Holocaust history to medieval Biblical studies. To do this, we will maintain a big-picture overview of the benefits of Python and how it can be applied to real humanities projects. We will also look at how programming can be applied to digital humanities methods, such as social network analysis, transcription, and searching a corpus. For this talk, I will be drawing from my experience at the Smithsonian Institution, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Bitter Aloe Project (which focuses on Apartheid South Africa), and medieval social networks. It is my hope that this talk gives listeners a sense of the benefits of programming and how to begin learning.
