Beyond the pixel: Digital heritage, artificial intelligence, and the (re)discovery of humanity in data

During the tenth seminar organised by My Experience Molise project, Professor Giulia Osti (University College Dublin) presented a talk intitled "Beyond the pixel: Digital heritage, artificial intelligence, and the (re)discovery of humanity". 

As the Collections as Data movement gains relevance in Europe, catalysed by the Europeana Foundation, we are witnessing a rapid shift towards introspective methodologies for moving cultural heritage artefacts into the digital realm. The task of producing and disseminating collections in the form of datasets requires a thorough examination of their cultural significance, coupled with careful consideration of the ethical implications of feeding this data into Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems — even if we do not plan to use these technologies. Why? To the extent that data can be accessed, there is the possibility of it becoming part of a training set. What are the implications of making digital heritage accessible at scale in the age of generative AI? Drawing on research in Critical Data Studies, this seminar explored the interplay between AI and heritage datasets from a practical and ethical perspective, with a special focus on the dichotomy between creative/productive uses of AI technologies.