How do computers see images? How can we analyze images through AI? And how can the humanities help us use, interpret, and create AI?

This talk by Dr. Lauren Craig Tilton explores these three questions through the study of 20th century media such as US photography and television. We'll explore how machine vision isn't neutral—it reflects the human decisions and assumptions we've built into these systems. The ways computers "see" are our choices, and can be interpreted in expected and unexpected ways. We will then turn to how humanistic thinking and questions can impact how we can think creatively about these systems—questioning their purposes, reimagining their applications, and using humanities perspectives to harness AI’s possibilities.

This event is part of the Denbo Center for Humanities & the Arts' 2025-26 Distinguished Lecture Series. 

Lauren Tilton is the E. Claiborne Robins Professor of Liberal Arts and Digital Humanities at the University of Richmond, where she directs the Center for Liberal Arts and AI (CLAAI). Her recent books include Distant Viewing (MIT Press) and Computational Humanities (Minnesota). Her digital projects such as Photogrammar.org and DigitalDocumerica.org have received funding from ACLS, Mellon, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. She is President of the Association for Computers and the Humanities and the Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations.