From text to image: Visual and multimodal AI in the Digital Humanities
FBK Aula Piccola
Fondazione Bruno Kessler - Polo delle Scienze Umane e sociali
As historians increasingly engage with Artificial Intelligence, the challenges and opportunities of working with images in digital humanities research are coming into sharper focus. While text-based AI applications are well established, images present unique challenges: they are not inherently machine-readable, posing significant challenges for large-scale analysis. With recent advances in Artificial Intelligence, historians now have powerful tools for detecting, classifying, and comparing visual material, offering new ways to study artistic traditions, print networks, and iconographic patterns. This lecture explores the role of AI in historical image analysis, from computer vision techniques that identify illustrations in early modern books to machine learning models that group repeated images and track their circulation. It also examines how AI-generated metadata and visual search tools are transforming iconographic research, allowing historians to trace the reuse of imagery across religious, political, and artistic contexts. While these advances open new possibilities, they also raise critical questions about interpretation, technical limitations, and the role of human expertise in computational approaches. By reflecting on both the successes and challenges of using AI in digital humanities, this lecture provides historians with a practical framework for engaging with visual data in an AI-driven research landscape.
DREW THOMAS | University College Dublin
Seminar cycle: “AI and history“
Organization:
Andrea Pojer (Università di Trento – FBK-ISIG)
Massimo Rospocher (FBK-ISIG)
Sandra Toffolo (FBK-ISIG)
The event will be held in English.
The presentation will take place in presence in FBK’s Aula Piccola, subject to availability, and online.
Registration is mandatory by 28 April 2025 at noon.
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Image: AdobeStock_1037404632
Relatori
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Drew Thomas - Relatore ospiteUniversity College DublinDrew Thomas is a Taighde Éireann – Research Ireland Pathway Fellow in the School of History at University College Dublin. His research focuses on early modern material culture, particularly the history of communication and counterfeiting during the Protestant Reformation. He leads 'Visualizing Faith: Print, Piety, and Propaganda', a digital humanities project that employs Artificial Intelligence to analyze the use of visual media by Catholics and Protestants during the Reformation. He is also a co-founder of 'Ornamento', a project that leveraged machine learning to build the largest collection of book illustrations from early modern Europe. Drew earned his BA from Saint Louis University (2010), his MTS from Harvard University (2012), and his PhD in History from the University of St Andrews (2018). His book, 'The Industry of Evangelism: Printing for the Reformation in Martin Luther’s Wittenberg' (Brill, 2022), explores the printing networks that shaped the Reformation.
Registrazione
La registrazione a questo evento è richiesta.
RegistratiThe event will be held in FBK Small Hall while seats last and in online mode.
Registration is mandatory by April 28, 2025 at noon so that the connection can be arranged.
Contatti
Organizzatori
L'iniziativa è stata realizzata anche grazie al contributo della Direzione generale Educazione, ricerca e istituti culturali del Ministero della Cultura.