In this talk, I’ll question the transformation of the historian’s craft in the age of generative artificial intelligence. Rather than opposing human and machine, I’ll propose thinking about their collaboration through the figure of the “cyborg” — an augmented practitioner whose research gestures (collection, analysis, interpretation, writing) become hybridized with the capabilities of large language models. Among the theme I will evoke, I’ll analyse AI outputs not as mere auxiliary tools, but as “cyborg sources” that reveal the collective imaginaries and temporal and spatial biases embedded in training data. By grounding the reflection in practice — from prompting as a new form of sources to the integration of AI into the daily workflows at C²DH — the aim is to concretely assess what AI does to the historian’s craft: what it makes possible, what it distorts, and the epistemological and critical demands it places on anyone who seeks to “prompt the past.”
FRÉDÉRIC CLAVERT | University of Luxembourg
Seminar cycle: “AI and history“
Organization:
Federico Mazzini (Università degli Studi di Padova)
Andrea Pojer (Università di Trento – FBK-ISIG)
Massimo Rospocher (FBK-ISIG)
Sandra Toffolo (FBK-ISIG)
ISIG is accredited or qualified to provide training for school staff in Trentino.
The event will be held ONLINE in English.
Registration is mandatory by 4 March 2026 at noon.
***
Image: AdobeStock_1037404632
Relatori
-
Frédéric Clavert - Speaker
University of Luxembourg
Frédéric Clavert is an Assistant Professor in European Contemporary History at the Centre for Contemporary and Digital History (C²DH), University of Luxembourg, where he heads the Contemporary European History research group. An active member of the digital humanities community, his research has evolved from the monetary organisation of Continental Europe in the 20th century to the study of how historians relate to their primary sources in the digital age and the use of large-scale web platform data for memory studies. He led the #ww1 project on the Centenary of the Great War on Twitter and has explored the collective memory dimensions of the COVID-19 pandemic. With Caroline Muller (Université Rennes 2), he co-edits the online book Le Goût de l'archive à l'ère numérique. His current research focuses on generative AI as a producer of primary sources for historical inquiry. He is managing editor of the Journal of Digital History.
Registrazione
La registrazione a questo evento è richiesta.
RegistratiThe event will be held in English through the Google Meet platform.
Contatti
Organizzatori
L'iniziativa è stata realizzata anche grazie al contributo della Direzione generale Educazione, ricerca e istituti culturali del Ministero della Cultura.
Avviso sulla privacy
Ai sensi e ai fini del Regolamento UE n. 2016/679 - Regolamento generale sulla protezione dei dati (GDPR) e come descritto nell'Informativa sulla privacy per i partecipanti all'evento di FBK, si informa che l'evento potrebbe essere registrato e divulgato sui canali istituzionali della Fondazione. Per non essere ripresi o registrati, si potrà sempre disattivare la webcam e/o silenziare il microfono durante eventi virtuali oppure informare anticipatamente lo staff FBK che organizza l'evento pubblico.
