Writers, scholars, artists, and students are now using or negotiating novel AI writing tools, aiding in their development by their very use. What can be gained in this deluge of machine words?


This seminar will take a look at large language models (LLMs) in relation to literary writing and literary studies. We will investigate what can be gained, in terms of knowledge and methods, to both 1) improve the design and use of AI as well as to 2) establish its philosophical, theoretical, and cultural ramifications. 

Main questions for 1): 

• What, if any, unique expertise can comparative literature, literary studies, and literary theory offer to AI use and development?

• What is the role of fiction in technological spaces?


• How to employ critical faculties in the writing process when AI tools are involved?

Main questions for 2):

• How or whether to revamp our criteria to differentiate human writing and machine generation? 


• What new possibilities have opened with machine co-creativity and co-writing?


• LLMs present “the empirical triumph of theory” per Ted Underwood, referring to their hyper-structuralist approach to language. How does this approach affect the many forms of language, in particular literary forms and translation? 

We accept submissions from all literary traditions and languages. Abstracts should be in English or French. Please submit yours via the ACLA website.