Programme

The course will discuss the relationship between digital humanities and philosophy. Among the topics discussed are the concept of representative omnipotence of digital encoding (and its history); basic concepts of the philosophy of information; introduction to and philosophical relevance of Artificial Intelligence (with a specific focus on the understanding of language in LLM); the development of generative AI; the relationship between media studies and philosophy; simulism; an introduction to computer ethics.
A basic knowledge of the field of Digital Humanities is strongly suggested. Students without any previous knowledge of the field are suggested to read:
Fabio Ciotti e Gino Roncaglia, Il mondo digitale, cap. I-IX, Laterza 2000 (16th reprint 2021)
Daniele Silvi e Fabio Ciotti, Lezioni di informatica umanistica, Universitalia 2021

Core Documentation

- Lecture notes (will be available on the Moodle platform)
- David J. Chalmers, Reality+, Allen Lane 2022
- David J. Chalmers, What We Talk to When We Talk to Language Models, 2026: https://philarchive.org/rec/CHAWWT-8


Non-attending students and students not taking part in project works will add Leif Weatherby , Language Machines: Cultural Ai and the End of Remainder Humanism, University of Minnesota Press 2024

Type of delivery of the course

The course will be in presence. Further courseware, as well as content related to project work activities, will be available on the Moodle platform

Attendance

Attendance is not mandatory but strongly suggested, and is assessed based on participation in platform work and project work.

Type of evaluation

For attending students, project work and written or oral test; for non attending students, oral test