Welcome to the Digital Humanities / Artificial Intelligence Seminar!
Goal
Fostered by the creation of new algorithms, computation power and the development of deep learning techniques, Artificial Intelligence needs constantly to confront new issues and data sets in order to deepen its methodologies and increase its range of scientific applications. Digital humanities, developing digital science methodologies in the study of humanities and using the critical approaches of humanities in the analysis of the contemporary “digital revolutions”, are constantly in search of new tools to explore more and more complex and diversified data sets.
The coupling AI/DH is globally emerging as one key interface for both domains and will probably prove to be a deep transformative trend in tomorrow intellectual world.
The ambition of this seminar is to be one of the places where this coupling is shaped, fostered and analyzed. It intends to offer a forum where both communities, understood in a very inclusive way, exchange around emerging issues, ongoing projects, and past experiences in order to build a common language, a shared space, and to encourage innovative cooperation on the long run.
Next seminars (2026-27)
The seminar takes place on every second Tuesday each month from 10am-12pm at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF), Site François-Mitterrand - Salle 70. Attendance is free, and no registration is required.
Date: 17 November 2026, 10am-12pm
Venue: Salle 70, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Site François-Mitterrand
Speaker: Malametenia Vlachou-Efstathiou (IRHT/IMAGINE-ENPC)
Title: Computational Modelling of Medieval Handwriting for Task-Agnostic Paleographical Analysis
Abstract: How can computational methods support the description and comparison of medieval handwriting beyond specific classification tasks? This presentation introduces a computer-vision framework for the quantitative and interpretable characterization of historical scripts, combining character morphology with the measurement of spatial properties. Starting from text-line images and their transcriptions, the method detects character instances without requiring manual character-level annotations and produces visual prototypes of letterforms alongside metrological descriptors capturing their dimensions and position within the line.
The presentation examines the technical and methodological choices underlying these representations and their implications for paleographical research. Through different case studies, it aims to show how such an approach can help identify shared and discriminative features, reassess relationships between scribal hands, and investigate the consistency and variability of writing practices. Particular attention is paid to the relationship between computational representations and paleographical interpretation, and to how quantitative measurements and visual evidence can complement established methods of handwriting analysis.
Past seminars
You can access here the list of past seminars.
Scientific Committee
- Mathieu Aubry
- Marie Carlin
- Chahan Vidal-Gorène
- Matthieu Husson
- Olivier Morin
- Thierry Poibeau
- Léa Saint-Raymond
- Stefan Zieme
Previous Committee Members
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