Truth versus Authenticity: Exploring the Ethical Paradoxes inherent in the Digital Representation of Text Data.

This interactive conversation will explore ethical questions related to the digital representation of texts. Mark DiMauro and Joshua Calandrella will discuss questions of translating and digitally representing sacred texts, considering both the mystic implications of technology and the ethical concerns that arise when artificial intelligence (AI) and other generative technology manipulates language and expresses linguistic patterns as mathematical datasets. What new and meaningful arrangements (datasets, translations, etc.) might become possible if these are generated with a reverence for the power traditionally associated with sacred and esoteric reading practices? Raja Adal will speak to these ethical questions as they relate to text encoding practices and consider how we might incorporate an ethical lens when working with other types of historical text data.

What kinds of textual materials do you work with in your disciplinary practices? How might researchers address the challenges of translating and digitally representing texts and grapple with concerns of distorting meaning? How might we anticipate and prevent accidental harm that could result from sharing text data openly online in an era of rapidly evolving AI algorithms?

Join us for this conversation to learn more and connect with other Pitt community members interested in ethical approaches to textual data.

Speakers:

• Mark DiMauro, Assistant Professor of Digital Humanities (UPJ)
• Joshua Calandrella, Adjunct Professor of Composition (UPJ)
• Raja Adal, Associate Professor of History