Rongqian Ma

Rongqian Ma, Meredith Dedema, Andrew Cox

The advent of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) technologies has been changing the research landscape and potentially has significant implications for Digital Humanities (DH), a field inherently intertwined with technologies. This article investigates how DH scholars adopt and critically evaluate GenAI technologies for research. Drawing on 76 responses collected from an international survey study and 15 semi-structured interviews with DH scholars, we explored the rationale for adopting GenAI tools in research, identified the specific practices of using GenAI tools, and analyzed scholars' collective perceptions regarding the benefits, risks, and challenges. The results reveal that DH research communities hold divided opinions and differing imaginations towards the role of GenAI in DH scholarship. While scholars acknowledge the benefits of GenAI in enhancing research efficiency and enabling reskilling, many remain concerned about its potential to disrupt their intellectual identities. Situated within the history of DH and viewed through the lens of Actor-Network Theory, our findings suggest that the adoption of GenAI is gradually changing the field, though this transformation remains contested, shaped by ongoing negotiations among multiple human and non-human actors. Our study is one of the first empirical analyses on this topic and has the potential to serve as a building block for future inquiries into the impact of GenAI on DH scholarship.

Shengnan Yang, Rongqian Ma

As AI systems become integral to knowledge-intensive work, questions arise not only about their functionality but also their epistemic roles in human-AI interaction. While HCI research has proposed various AI role typologies, it often overlooks how AI reshapes users' roles as knowledge contributors. This study examines how users form epistemic relationships with AI-how they assess, trust, and collaborate with it in research and teaching contexts. Based on 31 interviews with academics across disciplines, we developed a five-part codebook and identified five relationship types: Instrumental Reliance, Contingent Delegation, Co-agency Collaboration, Authority Displacement, and Epistemic Abstention. These reflect variations in trust, assessment modes, tasks, and human epistemic status. Our findings show that epistemic roles are dynamic and context-dependent. We argue for shifting beyond static metaphors of AI toward a more nuanced framework that captures how humans and AI co-construct knowledge, enriching HCI's understanding of the relational and normative dimensions of AI use.

Rongqian Ma, Xuhan Zhang, Adrian Wisnicki

This survey study investigates how digital humanists perceive and approach generative AI disclosure in research. The results indicate that while digital humanities scholars acknowledge the importance of disclosing GenAI use, the actual rate of disclosure in research practice remains low. Respondents differ in their views on which activities most require disclosure and on the most appropriate methods for doing so. Most also believe that safeguards for AI disclosure should be established through institutional policies rather than left to individual decisions. The study's findings will offer empirical guidance to scholars, institutional leaders, funders, and other stakeholders responsible for shaping effective disclosure policies.