AI, Literature, and the Future of Textual Analysis in Digital Humanities

The fast evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) has considerably affected research methodology in various disciplines, including the humanities. Artificial intelligence became a useful approach for literary critics, which allows studying texts using computational analysis, data interpretation, and other innovative methods. The current paper will consider the function of artificial intelligence in the field of literary criticism in terms of its contribution to the development of methods of textual analysis. Thus, the following topics will be discussed: natural language processing; theme and motif detection, sentiment analysis, computational stylistics, and interpretation facilitated by AI. Although artificial intelligence is often considered a substitute for literary criticism in the field of humanities, one should note that the emergence of this research method has expanded the possibilities for scholarly activities. Therefore, this paper will demonstrate that AI serves as an interdisciplinary tool, which has contributed to distant and machine reading of texts and interpretative modelling. Moreover, several aspects related to AI, such as theory, methodology, and ethics will be discussed. Finally, it will be shown that AI became an inseparable part of modern humanities as it helps people archive, analyse, interpret, and teach literature. Recent research in digital humanities confirms this claim.