Let’s find some definitions of Digital Humanities.
Working with CoPilot, I told the AI
“You are a skilled digital humanities scholar teaching at a major University. Define Digital Humanities.”
This was CoPilot’s reply:
”Digital Humanities (DH) is an interdisciplinary field that merges the traditional disciplines of the humanities with digital technologies. It involves the use of computational tools and methods to enhance research, teaching, and dissemination of knowledge in areas such as literature, history, philosophy, and cultural studies.
Key aspects of Digital Humanities include:
Digitization: Converting physical texts, artifacts, and other cultural materials into digital formats to make them more accessible and easier to analyze.
Data Analysis: Using computational techniques like text mining, data visualization, and statistical analysis to uncover patterns and insights in large datasets that would be difficult to detect manually.
Digital Publishing: Creating and sharing scholarly work through digital platforms, which can include interactive websites, online databases, and digital editions of texts.
Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Bringing together experts from various fields, including computer science, information technology, and traditional humanities disciplines, to work on complex projects.
Public Engagement: Making humanities research more accessible to the public through digital means, such as online exhibitions, digital archives, and social media.
Digital Humanities not only employs technology to advance humanities research but also critically examines the impact of digital culture on society123. This field is continually evolving, incorporating new technologies and methodologies to explore and understand human culture in innovative ways.
If you have any specific questions or need further details, feel free to ask!”
CoPilot cited Wikipedia, The British Academy of the UK and Online.Wilson.Edu as sources for this information.
Next, I asked CoPilot to change its Persona. I said,
“Now, take on the persona of a non-academic. You are someone who is not familiar with the field of digital humanities and is curious about this field of study. Define digital humanities.”
This is CoPilot’s response:
“Sure! Imagine you’re chatting with a friend who is curious about Digital Humanities. Here’s how I might explain it:
Digital Humanities is a field where people use computers and technology to study things like history, literature, and culture. Instead of just reading books or looking at old documents, they might use software to analyze large amounts of text, create digital maps of historical events, or build online archives of important artifacts.
Think of it as combining the best of both worlds: the deep thinking and analysis of the humanities with the powerful tools and techniques of the digital age. It’s about finding new ways to understand and share our cultural heritage using modern technology.
Does that help clarify things? Feel free to ask more questions if you’re curious!”
At this stage, my collaboration with CoPilot is getting me closer to where I want to be. I am trying meld these two persona into something coherent that will address both a stakeholder audience of academics who understand digital humanities but will also appeal to audiences outside academia who might be interested in WHY digital humanities are more important now than ever before.
So, I asked CoPilot:
“Okay, now I want to combine both of these personas; one that is more academic and one that is more casual, into a concise marketing statement about the benefits of a digital humanities program; try to focus specifically on why digital humanities is more important now than ever before.”
The response was this:
“Absolutely! Here’s a concise marketing statement that blends both academic and casual tones:
Unlock the Future with Digital Humanities
In today’s rapidly evolving digital world, understanding our cultural heritage through the lens of technology has never been more crucial. Digital Humanities bridges the gap between traditional humanities and cutting-edge digital tools, offering a unique approach to studying history, literature, and culture. By digitizing archives, analyzing large datasets, and creating interactive digital projects, this field not only preserves our past but also makes it accessible and engaging for everyone.
Join our Digital Humanities program to gain the skills needed to navigate and shape the future. Whether you’re passionate about uncovering historical insights or creating innovative digital content, you’ll find that Digital Humanities equips you with the knowledge and tools to make a meaningful impact in an increasingly digital society.
Does this capture what you were looking for? Let me know if you need any adjustments!
Not quite; but this is a start. I have collaborate with my Second Mind here; I have asked the AI enough to give me some help working with this text to start my own metacognitive process.
The challenge here; the MAJOR rethinking that we need to attend to is this: we must revaluate the stages of this process. At first glance, this might appear as an ending point to this workflow; okay, this is good enough and I am done and I can go on with this. My challenge to the writer interested in working with AI is this: see what I have presented here as a new sort of beginning in a much longer process.
AI has not made writing ‘faster'; quite the opposite. AI has opened a floodgate of possibility and potential for writing processes, for ideation and iteration. Writers now have a limitless Second Mind to work with, ask questions of, incessantly tweak and bother and question and talk to about their writing.
The end is only the beginning.