7th ENCODE ConferenceArtificial Intelligence and Ancient Writing Cultures

3 February 2023

Photo: Hussein Mohammed

Hussein Mohammed (left) at the ENCODE conference in Bologna, 26 January 2023.

As part of the ENCODE network, a conference on ‘Artificial Intelligence and Ancient Writing Cultures’ brought together leading experts on the digital transformation in the humanities in Bologna. Among them was Hussein Mohammed, who presented his work on pattern analysis in written artefacts.

Within a few years, the development of digital tools has transformed research in the humanities. The availability of large amounts of data allows scholars working with written artefacts to ask questions and address issues that until recently could not be meaningfully asked, let alone addressed. However, these new opportunities demand a lot from scholars, especially the younger generation: beyond an expertise in their respective fields, they now also have to acquire skills in digital data processing in order to be able to conduct competitive research.

ENCODE, which is an Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership for Higher Education, aims to teach researchers working in the field of ancient writing cultures the digital skills that are relevant for them today. Since 2020, it has been organising conferences and workshops where leading experts in the application of digital technologies in the humanities meet and share their knowledge with academics at all career levels, from BA students to professors. This network, which will run until August 2023, involves the universities of Bologna, Würzburg, Leuven, Parma, Hamburg, and Oslo.

Focusing on the issue of ‘Artificial Intelligence and Ancient Writing Cultures’, the last meeting took place on 26 January in Bologna. One of the instructors was Hussein Mohammed, who leads the project ‘Similarity Measurement of Visual Patterns in Written Artefacts’ at the Cluster of Excellence UWA and who has developed an extensive portfolio of open access software tools that researchers in the humanities can use to detect patterns in the study of written artefacts.

This conference was the seventh since the start of ENCODE. Past editions have dealt with, among other things, ‘Encoding across Languages and Technologies’, Digital Critical Editions, Digital Infrastructures, and Digital Greek and Latin Epigraphy.