Humanities Division

Kick off the Autumn quarter and celebrate a return to campus with these can’t-miss recommendations from the College of Arts & Sciences.

Emily M. Bender doesn't consider herself an AI researcher. The professor of linguistics at the UW is, first and foremost, a linguist. But her gimlet-eyed research on the dangers of large language models and her withering cross-examinations of the AI hype cycle have made her one of the industry's most formidable critics.

The Mo Habib Translation Prize is bringing the work of Persian writers — and translators of Persian — to an English-language audience. 

Spend enough time with ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence chatbots and it doesn't take long for them to spout falsehoods. Described as hallucination, confabulation or just plain making things up, it's now a problem. Emily Bender, professor of linguistics at the UW, is quoted.

Husky football players and other UW athletes explored Rome through a ten-day study abroad program led by Classics Professor Jim Clauss. 

While it's hard to determine if today's poetry scene is any more successful than other times without taking a deep dive into data, there's currently a lot to celebrate in the Seattle poetry world: local poets are receiving critical acclaim and national recognition, a slew of books are being published and poets are choosing to move to the city to develop their craft. David Nikki Crouse, director of the UW's Creative Writing Program, is quoted.

Sam Altman has zero regrets about letting ChatGPT loose into the world. To the contrary, he believes it was a great public service. This is the story of the OpenAI CEO's ambitious, ingenious, terrifying quest to create a new form of intelligence. Emily M. Bender, professor of linguistics at the UW, is referenced.

The Federal Trade Commission is reportedly investigating OpenAI, the Microsoft-backed startup that makes the smash hit ChatGPT. Emily M. Bender, professor of linguistics at the UW, is quoted.

Three graduate students who earned doctoral degrees in spring 2023 received the Graduate Medal from the College of Arts & Sciences. 

The four new graduates honored as College of Arts & Sciences Dean's Medalists for 2023 are all working to improve our world, in different ways. 

Two weeks after members of Congress questioned OpenAI CEO Sam Altman about the potential for artificial intelligence tools to spread misinformation, disrupt elections and displace jobs, he and others in the industry went public with a much more frightening possibility: an AI apocalypse. Emily M. Bender, professor of linguistics at the UW, is quoted.

You've probably heard chatbots like ChatGPT described as "artificial intelligence." Emily M. Bender, professor of linguistics at the UW, wants you to call it a "text synthesis machine" or "stochastic parrot."

A 2,000-year-old collection of medical tools, recently unearthed in Hungary, offer insight into the practices of undaunted, much-maligned Roman doctors. Lawrence J. Bliquez, professor emeritus of classics and art history at the UW, is quoted.

Big Tech's warnings about an AI apocalypse are distracting us from years of actual harms their products have caused. Emily M. Bender, professor of linguistics at the UW, is quoted.

As UW student Kenna Fojas (Cinema & Media Studies, Psychology) prepares to graduate, she's set to direct a film she wrote with guidance from a screenwriting idol.