In December 2025, L-MaSDR hosted a seminar exploring the opportunities, challenges, and responsibilities that AI presents for humanistic research. Watch the presentations here. 

What's outside the model? - Anders Braarud Hanssen

Anders Braarud Hanssen gave a thought-provoking lecture titled “What’s outside the model? What the humanities need to reclaim to survive and save the human race.” He argued for the continued relevance of humanistic insight, contextual knowledge, and ethical reflection. Drawing on Gödel’s incompleteness theorem, he characterized large language models as closed formal systems and argued that they are incapable of producing fundamentally new insights, highlighting instead what exists beyond computation and prediction. The lecture offered a strong case for humanities as an indispensable counterbalance to technocratic thinking.

Between manuscript and machine - Francis Borchardt and Matthew Monger

Francis Borchardt and Matthew Monger explored the implications of AI for textual scholarship in “Between Manuscript and Machine: The Advent of the Newest Philology.” Drawing on examples from manuscript studies and digital philology, and specifically their work with the Schøyen collection, the talk examined how machine learning tools are transforming editorial practices, source criticism, and the interpretation of historical texts. Rather than framing AI as a replacement for philological expertise, the presentation highlighted new hybrid forms of scholarship emerging at the intersection of human judgment and machine assistance.

Panel Discussion and Concluding Reflections

The seminar concluded with a panel discussion bringing together the speakers and the audience. The conversation returned to several recurring themes.

This seminar forms part of L-MaSDR’s ongoing engagement with artificial intelligence in the humanities, reflecting the lab’s aim to combine methodological innovation with critical reflection. By fostering open conversations about both possibilities and limitations, L-MaSDR seeks to contribute to a more thoughtful and sustainable future for humanistic research in an age of AI.

We thank the speakers and participants for their contributions and engagement, and look forward to continuing the conversation in future events and projects.