Travel of Literature Enabled by Artificial Intelligence and Large Language Models: The Personalization of Literary Quotes

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine how artificial intelligence, especially large language models, can enable literature to travel across cultural and geographical boundaries, and be personalized by the diverse readers around the world. With the pervasive internet, massive volumes of literature are now available online, but the increase in accessibility may not have a directly correlation to its being actually accessed. The more likely accessed are the literary quotes, taken out of context only as texts, without reference to any national, temporal and disciplinary contexts. These literary quotes are words taken not only out of their literary context, but also out of their cultural and geographic contexts. What remains are often the textual features, often presented as inspirational quotes ready to be adapted by the readers in their own context. Our recent pilot project showed that to enable global readers to comprehend the meaning of the literary quote, the quote needs to be coded so that they can be decoded by global readers using their own experience and cultural backgrounds. This brings earlier concepts such as cultural exchanges, globalization, transnationalism and interdependences to another level. We used artificial intelligence and large language models to analyse literary quotes, extracting the sentiments inherent in these quotes, and re-wrapped them in visual elements prepared by artificial intelligence, so that the meaning of the quotes in their original literary context can be understood by the readers without the literary and cultural contexts. The literary quotes are personalized and made inclusive.

Presenters

Kay Li
Adjunct Professor, English, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Details

Presentation Type

Poster Session

Theme

2024 Special Focus—Traveling Concepts: The Transfer and Translation of Ideas in the Humanities

KEYWORDS

TRAVEL, LITERATURE, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, TEXTS AND CONTEXTS