AHA Session 162
Saturday, January 9, 2027: 8:30 AM-10:00 AM
Rhythms Ballroom III (Sheraton New Orleans, 2nd Floor)
Chair:
Jacob Bruggeman, Johns Hopkins University
Panel:
Steph Buongiorno, Emory University
Kalani Craig, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Jo Guldi, Society of Fellows, Harvard University
Kera Lovell, University of Utah’s Asia Campus
Ian Milligan, University of Waterloo
Kalani Craig, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Jo Guldi, Society of Fellows, Harvard University
Kera Lovell, University of Utah’s Asia Campus
Ian Milligan, University of Waterloo
Session Abstract
This roundtable brings together historians, digital humanists, and data scientists to examine the challenges and opportunities that artificial intelligence tools present for historical research and teaching. Panelists draw on wide-ranging expertise—from computational text analysis and web archives to experimental tool-building and classroom pedagogy—to assess how AI is reshaping the historian's craft. How do AI tools alter the ways students engage with primary sources, develop interpretive skills, and think critically about the past? What new possibilities do these technologies open for large-scale historical analysis, digital public history, and collaborative research? And what risks do they pose to scholarly rigor, equitable access, and the integrity of historical knowledge? Grounded in perspectives spanning digital infrastructure design, born-digital archives, the history of capitalism and technology, and U.S. cultural history pedagogy in international contexts, the roundtable offers a practical and critical conversation about the promise, peril, and practice of AI in our field.
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