All We Need Is Data: Humanities, Datasets, and Corpora in the Era of Artificial Intelligence, by Francesco BIANCO

The recent surge in AI development reflects a broader diffusion of disciplines, technologies, and tools made possible by increasingly powerful CPUs and, especially, GPUs. These advances have enabled effective implementation of machine learning models—particularly artificial neural networks—across diverse problem domains. As a result, AI and data science have become increasingly relevant to the humanities.

This talk offers an overview of notable humanities projects that incorporate these technologies, highlighting the critical role of large, diverse datasets and language corpora. It will explore key questions around processing, storing, sharing, and reusing such data. A case study from Italian sociolinguistics and corpus linguistics will serve as a springboard for reflecting on the evolving role of data in contemporary humanities research.
 

Francesco BIANCO is Assistant Professor in Italian linguistics at the Department of Romance Languages of Palacký University Olomouc. His main scientific interests span from the syntax of old Italian to the Italian language varieties (emigrants’ language, bureaucratic Italian, popular Italian, etc.). His most recent work explores one of the intersections of language and technology, aiming in particular to shed light on contemporary Italian through data science and artificial intelligence.

Supported by the GATES project (Grenoble ATtractiveness and ExcellenceS), funded by the French government's Programme d'Investissement Avenir and implemented by ANR France 2030