Humanities leaders from six continents will converge on the University of Melbourne to address the impacts and opportunities of artificial intelligence for people and societies around the world.
Established in 2024, the Global Humanities Alliance works to strengthen the international profile and impact of the humanities and social sciences through joint teaching and research across eight partner universities: The University of Melbourne, Universitas Gadjah Mada (Indonesia), Ashoka University (India), Mahidol University (Thailand), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, University of Nairobi (Kenya), University of Manchester (UK) and University of Toronto (Canada).
The Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Professor Jennifer Balint, said humanities and social sciences research and education is vital to informing AI policy and practice and helping people make informed decisions about its use.
“AI is already materially shaping the information we access and the decisions that affect our lives,” Professor Balint said.
“As governments respond to the societal transformations brought about by AI, humanities and social sciences research is essential to understanding what these changes mean for people and to charting a productive, inclusive and ethical way forward.”
Representatives from each global partner university will open the program with a keynote panel, Rethinking Humanity in the Age of AI, examining how societies can respond as the technology develops faster than the policies designed to govern it.
“Across the week, we will bring together experts whose research examines how AI can better reflect different cultures, how AI-generated misinformation and disinformation affects public trust, and what AI means for the future of education and student learning,” Professor Balint said.
“AI presents global challenges, but individual communities experience them differently. Bringing national and regional perspectives together in Melbourne gives us the chance to learn from each other and build on new research that can inform a global response to AI, grounded in local needs.”
Alliance Co-chair and Associate Dean (Global), Professor Kate McGregor, said the Alliance connected Melbourne’s students and researchers with communities around the world.
“The Alliance was established to bring our expertise together and strengthen our collective response to some of the world’s most pressing challenges,” Professor McGregor said.
“Alongside AI, we will also work together to advance responses to climate change, threats to democracy and what it means to teach in polarising times. These discussions will guide new teaching and research collaborations across our institutions.
“We look forward to welcoming our students, researchers, industry partners and the wider community to take part in these discussions through the week’s public events and programs.
“For our students, these connections will clearly demonstrate the power of an Arts education, which equips students with cross-cultural understandings of global issues, along with the civic responsibility and critical thinking skills required to find collaborative solutions.”
