Recent developments in generative artificial intelligence (AI) are currently transforming literary and visual studies—raising issues that range from copyright infringement; to human-computer interaction and collaboration; to the inspirations for human creativity. More broadly, this new technology can lead us to reconsider key issues in the fields of education, media, visual arts, music—and the future of the humanities.

We know, for instance, that AI technologies are now capable of generating literary and visual outputs that imitate the styles of both writers and painters—deploying the internet as a kind of archive. They have even begun to win artistic recognition. One notable example is Jason Allen’s award-winning AI-generated artwork, “Théâtre D'opéra Spatial,” which took first place in the digital category in the Colorado State Fair Fine Arts Competition 2022. What is more, scholar-artists such as Lev Manovich are now asking how we might precisely distinguish between human-created art and AI-generated images—including deepfakes of realistic brushstrokes, photos, videos, and audio.

In response to these difficult distinctions, we are now asking whether these transformative machine-learning technologies might challenge, enhance, inspire, collaborate with—or even replace human creativity. Approaches to such questions can draw on various research methods, including textual analysis, visual analysis, case studies, interviews, surveys, content analysis, comparative analysis, and more. More specifically, this panel can also reconsider current debates that have appeared in The Chronicle of Higher Education and commensurate fora. In the end, we seek to uncover AI's possibilities, potential, and limitations as a collaborative tool for expanding human imagination, critical thinking, abstract conceptualization, and possibly “original” invention. By bringing together scholars from diverse disciplines, we hope to contribute to an expanded understanding of the potential of AI to shape the future of human creativity in the arts and humanities.

This panel invites 200-to-300-word abstracts that analyze the complex relationship between AI and human creativity. Abstracts are accepted through September 30, 2024. Please submit the abstract to NeMLA’s convention portal: https://www.cfplist.com/nemla/Home/CFP 

The panel session number is 21094. You can type this 5-digit number into the search engine to find the session.

Each abstract submission must include:

• A title of no more than 80 characters
• An abstract of 200 to 300 words
• A brief bio
• Media needs (no media required OR projector/screen – laptop not provided)

The 56th NeMLA’s Annual Convention will take place on March 6-9, 2025, in Philadelphia, PA. For more information on the conference and to view NeMLA’s guidelines for abstracts, visit https://www.nemla.org/convention.html

Questions regarding the panel may be addressed to Haoqing Yu, hy517@georgetown.edu