UWK Summer School 2025

The interdisciplinary Summer School “AI will sort it… out? Practices of collecting, archiving and curating in the age of digital transformation” addressed collecting, archiving and curating in the context of digital transformation. Its focus was on the potential and impact of digital technologies, in particular generative AI and extended reality, on the handling of tangible and intangible cultural heritage. The event engaged with current questions in the Digital Humanities: How do digital and hybrid collections change access to history, identity and knowledge? What role do AI-based methods play in the selection, documentation, presentation and mediation of cultural objects? And how can digital practices be aligned with ethical requirements and sustainability goals? 

About the project 

The Summer School took place from 2 to 4 July 2025 at the University for Continuing Education Krems. It was organised by the Department for Arts and Cultural Studies in cooperation with Dr Helmut Neundlinger from in scope GmbH. It addressed early-career researchers and professionals from the Digital Humanities, archives, museums, exhibitions, the cultural and creative industries, and related fields. 

The programme combined keynotes, presentations, workshops, discussion formats and informal exchange. Its thematic focus was on practices of “sorting out” and “sorting in”, understood as the selection, ordering, accessibility and meaningful mediation of material and immaterial collections. The discussions covered concrete projects and tool developments as well as methodological and theoretical perspectives on AI, cultural heritage, ethics, image rights, philosophy of technology, mediation and sustainability. The poster presentations originally envisaged did not take place due to a lack of submissions. 

Including speakers and organisers, 30 people participated in the English-language Summer School. The contributions and discussions demonstrated a broad range of approaches to AI and cultural heritage collections and enabled international and interdisciplinary exchange. Presentations made available by some speakers were shared with participants afterwards via a password-protected repository. 

As a sustainable form of documentation and continuation of the Summer School, selected contributions are planned for publication in the “DAC – Digital Journal for Arts and Cultural Studies | Digitales Journal für Kunst- und Kulturwissenschaften”. The peer-review process has started, and the issue is scheduled for publication in 2026. In this way, key outcomes of the Summer School are to be made openly accessible to the international DH community, interested audiences in museums and cultural heritage institutions, and students.