Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal

Placing ChatGPT in the Context of Disruptive Technology in Academic Publishing

Beth Montague-Hellen — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0100

ChatGPT is an AI-based text generating tool which was released at the end of 2022. The tool is significantly better than previous AIs at generating written outputs which appear to have been written by a human including academic research articles. Within academic research there has been considerable interest in whether the tool can be used to write scholarly content, and what the consequences of this would be. Despite the increased quality of output ChatGPT still suffers from many of the flaws which plague other AI tools such as bias, inaccurate training materials and its use leads to concerns around plagiarism and research integrity. This article centres the viewpoint of an academic librarian to discuss ChatGPT in the context of other technologies which have been disruptive. An argument is made that the tool is simply one in a series of transformational developments in scholarly communications, which have all been, eventually, successfully assimilated.

This work was supported by the Francis Crick Institute which receives its core funding from Cancer Research UK (CC0103), the UK Medical Research Council (CC0103), and the Wellcome Trust (CC0103).

The Rise of Conceptual Association and Linguistic Register as Advertiser Persuasive Instruments

Constance de Silva — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Consumer advertising is remarkable in its propensity to socially recalibrate and adopt new technology, thus providing a spectacular range of information-dissemination methodology in multimodal formats. Unsurprisingly then, the sensory-input phenomena of advertising language attract interdisciplinary interest. Despite researcher diversity, conceptual association presents as a premier audience-sensitive instrument deployed in relay of advertiser-intended meanings: in this dynamic, socio-culturally appropriate messaging is attempted via linguistic register (word choices) tied in semantic interdependency with non-linguistic elements. Compositional meaning-maker favourites include abbreviations, symbols, presupposition and implicature as facilitators of ‘hidden’ meanings. Here, an under-researched area emerges on the historical plane—namely the origin story of conceptual association as an operative in consumer-oriented rhetoric and its pragmatic transit from early-seller composition toward the kaleidoscope of today’s advertising broadband. In this vein, the evolutionary path of promotional discourse is traced via an Australian 1800s–1950s press dataset. The data evidences abbreviations and symbols in consumer advertising by the late 1840s and pegs the rise of presupposition and implicature to the 1850s. This finding, as historical backdrop, complements inquiries that illuminate how compositional choices work to generate non-evidence-based benefits that induce positive appraisal and, further, raises the formative journey of English as today’s global lingua franca of consumer advertising.

Sustainability

Jean Marshall — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Humanity is currently using the Earth’s resources at a much higher rate than that at which the planet can regenerate them. Public awareness of this problem is increasing, especially with regard to issues such as the need to recycle waste, and to reduce our reliance on single-use plastic and on fossil fuels. However, the scale of the problem is still under-appreciated, and in many cases, there are no simple solutions to make our current systems truly sustainable. Meanwhile, the global human population is growing and despite higher awareness, our consumption of global resources is increasing rather than decreasing. This article explores some of the reasons why sustainability is such a complex problem and puts the case that an effective approach to sustainability will require effort from experts in fields ranging from economics to materials chemistry, as well as from legislators and leaders of industry.

Coming Back to Where You Started is Not the Same as Never Leaving

Gareth J Johnson — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0100

This is the editorial for the 26th, and 10th anniversary, issue of Exchanges. The editorial offers an introduction to the content in the issue, alongside highlighting ways in which people can interact and contribute to future issues. The major focus of the editorial is a relatively brief overview of the past ten years of the journal and its developmental journey. The articles also includes information on the Editorial Board and ways to contact the Editor-in-Chief.

Review

Raad Khair Allah — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Art can be particularly an effective means of building transnational understanding across cultural divides. Specifically, the act of making art to express conflict, sexuality and identity is significant as Arab women have frequently been marginalised and excluded from such a site of visibility and meaning. Contemporary Arab women artists not only contribute to global feminist theory but also deal with their aesthetic, visual and personal concerns. The Body in Twilight: Representation of the Human Body, Sexuality and Struggle in Contemporary Arab Art is a book by the Syrian professor of visual art and design Fassih Keiso. In this book, Keiso explores the representation of the human body in contemporary Arab art and its relationship to issues of sexuality and struggle. He argues that the representation of the body in Arab art reflects broader societal changes and struggles and that the use of the body as a site of resistance and political commentary is a common theme in contemporary Arab art. Despite the lack of images of artworks by the artists discussed in this book, the book provides a compelling contribution to comparative gender and feminist art and the broader international art on the centrality of sexuality in politics and society.

Acknowledgement

This publication stemmed from the author’s time as a Barker Visiting Fellow at the Durham Residential Research Library in 2022. As such the author wishes to warmly acknowledge the University of Durham and its staff for their generous support which led to the creation of this piece.

Emerging from the Covid-19 Cocoon

Amanda Kowalczyk — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Since March 2020, teaching and learning in UK higher education has undergone a period of metamorphosis. With campus closures, lecturers and tutors could no longer rely on the teaching and learning style honed over years of in-person delivery. Despite the initial uncertainty of transformation, academic staff have adapted to the new situation, embracing new technology to assist lecture recording, seminar delivery and meetings with colleagues and students. Many will feel that they have become different teachers. Perhaps even, improved teachers, able to work in unique ways and address new challenges. For a while it appeared that teaching in higher education had been completed altered as a result. Yet student voices continue to advocate for in-person delivery. Can, and should, lecturers and tutors revert to their ‘old’ pedagogy, when the opportunity arises to return fully to the lecture theatre, classroom, or laboratory? Or have we emerged from the Covid-19 cocoon completely, and permanently, altered? This article reflects on my own experiences, based on returning to exclusively face-to-face delivery from September 2022, after two and a half years of online and blended learning.

Reflections on AI in Humanities

Raad Khair Allah — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0100

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues advancing rapidly, there is growing potential for its application in the humanities to uncover new insights and perspectives from the historical archives. However, it is also important to consider how AI tools themselves may unintentionally perpetuate existing biases if not developed conscientiously. This critical reflection reflects on the opportunities and challenges of utilising AI to amplify marginalised voices that have been traditionally excluded or underrepresented in mainstream historical narratives, with a focus on women. Through natural language processing and computer vision techniques, AI shows promise in automating the analysis of large volumes of text, image, and multimedia sources to bring to the surface female narratives previously overlooked due to limitations of manual research methods. However, issues such as training data bias, problematic stereotypes learned from legacy sources, and a lack of diversity among AI researchers threaten to replicate the very inequities they are seeking to overcome if not addressed proactively. Collaborative frameworks and design principles centred on representation, accountability and community oversight are needed. By critically examining its social responsibilities and impacts, this reflection argues that AI possesses great potential in the service of feminist and intersectional scholarship when guided appropriately. It calls for continued multidisciplinary dialogue to help ensure technologies amplify marginalised voices rather than risk their further marginalisation.