Humanist learning and artificial intelligences: critical literacies for digital worlds

Abstract Shifting technological landscapes have been shaping the epistemologies, methods, and workflows of classicists, historians, and archaeologists for more than a century. Yet these technologies and their impacts have not always been subject to reflexive interrogation within our disciplines. As artificial intelligence (AI) technologies – especially generative AI – have become widely accessible, there has been a wave of concern among educators around student learning outcomes and academic honesty. In addressing these challenges, we must also engage in critical reflection around the use of AI technologies in our research and teaching from humanist and social scientist perspectives in order to serve critical learning outcomes and counter rising digital colonialism. This paper first situates the conversation within the context of corporate AI economies and the intersections between AI technologies and antiquity-focused fields. It then proposes three AI-focused literacies for cultivating core ancient Mediterranean studies competencies and fostering critical thinking: the ability to identify and analyse the impact of taxonomic frameworks and data training inputs on algorithmic outputs; the ability to understand the development of computational models and algorithmic reasoning and their applications; and the ability to critically evaluate the ethical and environmental impacts of algorithmic reasoning and AI technologies. Critical assessment of the foundational structures and logics of AI systems and economies situates both educators and learners to critically assess the political, social, and environmental impacts of such systems on the study of the past and the world in the present.