From Hype to Reality: AI in the Study of Art and Culture

Following the first edition of the “From Hype to Reality: AI in the Study of Art and Culture” symposium held in 2023 (see the 2023 website here), we continue to explore the intersection of artificial intelligence and culture, and invite researchers, artists, and practitioners to join this ongoing conversation by contributing new perspectives, case studies, and critical reflections.

In partnership with the DSI Digital Humanities community, we are organizing this year’s symposium as a collaborative one-day event designed to exchange ideas, discuss ongoing research, address current issues, and create opportunities for participants to meet and network.

As AI systems become increasingly embedded in cultural practices, their influence extends far beyond prediction or efficiency. They are now active participants in processes of cultural production and interpretation, generating new artefacts, transforming existing ones, and shaping the ways cultural material is curated, shared, and consumed. This shift raises fundamental questions about authorship, agency, context, and meaning, while also exposing the limits of existing analytical frameworks. At the same time, large-scale datasets and new analytical techniques make it possible to trace patterns, biases, and transformations within cultural material, but also demand critical reflection on the assumptions, categories, and epistemologies that shape these approaches.

The symposium invites contributions that employ qualitative and quantitative methods to evaluate generative content, taking into account not only measures of performance but also questions of cultural meaning, relevance, and social significance, as well as broader analyses and critical perspectives on AI’s role in curating, preserving, and transforming cultural heritage.