Winds of generative AI: Research trends of digital humanities in computer science publications

Abstract

Digital Humanities (DH) represent a pivotal evolution in the integration of current technologies, especially Artificial Intelligence (AI) and particularly Generative AI (GenAI), within humanities research. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of DH and its interfaces with computational methods, this paper examines the penetration of DH into Computer Science (CS) publications over the years. This research applied a culturomics approach, using specific search queries in the dblp (computer science bibliography) database to track the emerging trends of DH-related terms in CS research publications from 1990 to 2024. Findings show Cultural Heritage (CH) is being dominant compared to all other DH terms since 1994, while DH has a consistent rising trend since 2006 within CS publications. The study reflects the need for knowledge sharing and joint expertise between researchers to create new knowledge. The implications of this study encourage greater openness of academia to cross-disciplinary publications that may lead to a broader understanding of complex societal and cultural issues