AIUCD 2025 : AIUCD 2025 - Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Challenges and Opportunities for Digital Humanities in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

The conference provides an opportunity for large-scale discussions in the various research areas of the Digital Humanities, with a particular focus on issues of inclusiveness. In a world where artificial intelligence is redefining the boundaries of knowledge, it is indeed crucial to explore how this transformation can be guided by principles of inclusiveness and equity.

While one track of the conference will be devoted exclusively to this issue, all the different parts of the Digital Humanities are affected by it in various ways. Starting with the computational part, which needs to better understand its tools to counter biases and distortions, but which can also use them to democratize access to knowledge and culture. Access which, in turn, can be fostered by good practices in the digitization of works and documents, by supporting, for example, the encoding of accessible digital editions for all types of users. In the field of knowledge representation, then, the concept of accessibility is already inscribed at the heart of the FAIR principles (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, Reusability), which need increasingly virtuous applications within digital heritage preservation practices. Preservation which, finally, is at the heart of contemporary challenges to ensure that cultural heritage is not only safeguarded, but also made accessible and understandable to a global and diverse audience.

Therefore, papers relevant to the following conference tracks are invited:

1) Digital Humanities and Inclusion
Proposals related to issues of inclusion in the Digital Humanities from multiple perspectives are welcomed: from accessibility at the level of research, teaching, infrastructure, and outreach, to practices for overcoming gender, economic, social, and cultural disparities. Specific topics of interest include: minority representation in digital projects; accessibility of digital resources for disadvantaged communities; the role of digital humanities in bridging the digital divide; innovative methodological approaches to make digital projects more inclusive and participatory.

2) Archives and Digital Editions
We welcome both theoretical and applied proposals on (a) the representation and organisation of techniques and problems in the fields of digitisation, the organisation of born-digital heritage and methods for its archiving; (b) themes, issues, and applications pertaining to digital critical editions, to modes of visualisation and interrogation of online texts, and alternative means of encoding.

3) Computational Methods
Papers are welcomed that explore methods and tools for computational analysis of cultural heritage, including advanced approaches based on cutting-edge technologies in Artificial Intelligence. Reflections on the state of the art, up to the latest theoretical frameworks, are also encouraged, with the aim of highlighting future developments and perspectives in the field. Included are approaches for the analysis of literary texts and corpora, touching upon computational models for literary criticism on the one hand, and research in computational linguistics and natural language processing on the other. Papers on analysis and visualization methods such as Network Analysis and Mapping are also welcomed.

4) Data and Knowledge Representation
Special attention will be given to knowledge representation and the use of Semantic Web and Linked Open Data technologies. We welcome proposals concerning the design of conceptual models, knowledge graphs, ontologies and technologies of the Semantic Web with respect to cultural heritage and the Digital Humanities, the creation of datasets and applications that conform to the FAIR principles, the production of Linked Open Data in these domains, as well as the automated extraction of metadata, named entities and models from cultural heritage resources.

5) Preservation of Memory and Digital Heritage
We welcome proposals concerning memory and digital cultural heritage preservation, particularly relating to the research outputs in the Digital Humanities. We also encourage proposals addressing the challenges of digital infrastructure and the problems of sustainability posed by projects involving digitisation and the conservation of born-digital collections, as well as proposals on the implementation of best practices for the preservation of, and effective access to, cultural heritage.

Guidelines for the Submission of Proposals
The conference envisages participation by oral communication (paper) or poster.

At the proposal stage, authors are asked to specifify in which mode they intend to present the paper, whether by oral or poster communication. Following peer review, the Scientific Committee may decide whether the accepted contribution is more suitable for an oral communication or a poster presentation. It should be noted that there is no difference in quality between contributions assigned to one or the other mode of presentation: oral presentations are generally more appropriate for theoretical and methodological work, including that relating to actual applications; posters, optionally presented with a demo, are better suited to the description of projects, tools or digital resources.

All proposals must be submitted in the form of a contribution of a minimum of three (3) and a maximum of five (5) pages, excluding bibliography.

The submission format for contributions must adhere to the template (updated from previous years) and directions found on the page Information for Authors. Contributions that do not adhere to the template and directions will be rejected without considering their content.

Neither plagiarism nor self-plagiarism is tolerated. Please note that a plagiarism checking tool may be applied to submitted contributions. The use of Large Language Models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT, is not permitted unless the generated text is submitted as part of the experimental analysis, or the generative AI tool was used only for editing and refinement of the authors’ work. However, all uses must be explicitly stated in the submitted contribution.

Contributions must be submitted, in PDF format only, using the platform that will be made available on the conference website on December 12, 2024.

Proposals must be anonymised. Author names and any internal references should be removed to the extent possible so as to not compromise reviewers’ assessment of the proposal.

A maximum of two proposals in the five tracks of the call can be submitted as the first contributing author. At the conference, authors will be allowed to present a maximum of two accepted contributions as either first or co-authors. In any case, at least one of the authors must register for the conference for the contribution to be accepted.

The official languages of the conference are Italian and English. Authors can present in either language, regardless of the one used in their written proposal.