NEWS
NORMAN, OKLA. – The University of Oklahoma will establish the nation’s first Center for Creativity and Authenticity in AI Cultural Production thanks to a nearly $500,000 three-year grant from the U.S. National Endowment for the Humanities. Center leaders hope to contribute humanities expertise to the growing discussion about the role of artificial intelligence in society.
“The NEH sought submission that examined the ethical, legal and social implications of AI technologies,” said Kim Marshall, co-principal investigator and director of the OU Arts and Humanities Forum. “With support from the Native Nations Center and multiple programs, colleges and organizations across campus, our proposed Center will examine the implications of AI on human creativity and authenticity.”
Six interdisciplinary teams will focus on three cross-cutting themes important to cultural production in an age of generative artificial intelligence: trust and trustworthiness, appropriation and relationality, authenticity, fakery, plagiarism and creativity. Within these thematic areas, each team will hone in on specific topics:
Hunter Heyck, co-principal investigator and professor in the OU Department of History of Science, Technology and Medicine, will serve as the center’s inaugural director.
“Our proposal uniquely combines Native American arts and humanities with the strengths of the Department of History of Science, Technology and Medicine and the School of Visual Arts’ art and technology program to create a center that could only exist at OU. By leveraging the expertise of these programs, and a wealth of talent across OU, I believe we can provide novel answers to vital questions,” Heyck said.
According to Marshall, there is a real concern when the creator of written or visual media is disconnected from the media itself. While AI enables new modes of expression, it can destabilize the relationship between author and audience, raising questions about the nature and purpose of human creative expression. Oklahoma’s Tribal Nations have built decades of expertise in thinking through this challenge.
“Native artists and communities have seen their cultural productions appropriated for a long time. This massive profit-centered appropriation is one of the important issues in this conversation, and we’re intentionally centering Native scholars, artists and priorities in this project,” Marshall said. “We’ve already seen that Native artists are just as excited to talk about the creative potential of AI and are thinking about ways to apply durable cultural values into new domains."
Trustworthiness is crucial to this center and to the University of Oklahoma. One OU organization already making strides in this space is the NSF AI Institute for Research on Trustworthy AI in Weather, Climate and Coastal Oceanography, known as AI2ES.
“Amy McGovern, who is the director of AI2ES, endorsed our center because she understands the importance of trustworthiness and ethics in artificial intelligence,” Marshall said. “These issues will be the focus of our first conference. Not only will we be examining misinformation and disinformation, but also what philosophy, history and the humanities can contribute to those conversations and how these disciplines can help scientists fully understand the problems they’re attacking.”
With support from Pete Froslie, co-principal investigator and director of the OU School of Visual Arts, and Julia Abramson, an associate professor in the OU Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Linguistics and faculty fellow in the OU Office of the Vice President for Research and Partnerships, the team will host three conferences for national and international researchers. The Perspectives on AI and Trustworthiness conference, led by Marshall, will be held in the fall of 2025. The Authenticity, Fakery, Plagiarism and Creativity in AI conference will be led by Abramson and will take place in the fall of 2026. The final conference, AI Appropriation and Relationality, will be led by Froslie and is scheduled for fall 2027.
“These conferences will allow OU to lead the national conversation on AI in the arts and humanities by bringing national experts to campus to engage questions of creativity and authenticity. The edited volumes that emerge from these conferences will document how scholars are wrestling with this historic, AI-driven inflection point," Froslie said. "We’re grateful to have the help of Julia Abramson in planning and organizing these conferences, and I’m particularly excited to be working with colleagues across campus to facilitate these events."
At its core, the Center for Creativity and Authenticity in AI Cultural Production will be a place of collaboration. According to Heyck, the team will focus on creating a network of different perspectives that enrich one another while creating sustainable conversations on important topics.
“The arts and humanities have important contributions to make in the field of artificial intelligence,” Heyck said. “I hope that our center will not only provide a model for future institutions who examine common sets of issues and solve complex problems impacting our world but will also position Oklahoma at the forefront of conversations surrounding the impact of the humanities on AI development and use.”
Learn more about the University of Oklahoma’s Arts and Humanities Forum and Native Nations Center, and read how AI and machine learning are aiding OU researchers in innovative breakthroughs.
About the project
The Center for Creativity and Authenticity in AI Cultural Production is funded by an expected $498,129 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities as part of their $2.72 million Humanities Research Centers on Artificial Intelligence program. This project is a collaborative effort of 20 researchers from six colleges at the University of Oklahoma. In addition to Heyck, Marshall, Froslie and Abramson, the team will include Suzanne Moon, Peter Soppelsa, Rebecca Huskey, Samuel Huskey, Babak Khoshroo, Dustin Tahmahkera and Nathan Young from the Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences, KT Duffy, Robert Bailey and Alicia Harris from the Weitzenhoffer Family College of Visual Arts, Chris Morrey and Rene Peralta from the Gibbs College of Architecture, Chris Weaver and Andrew Fagg from the Gallogly College of Engineering, Matt Jensen from the Price College of Business, and Mark Raymond from the David L. Boren College of International Studies.
About the University of Oklahoma
Founded in 1890, the University of Oklahoma is a public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. As the state’s flagship university, OU serves the educational, cultural, economic and health care needs of the state, region and nation. OU was named the state’s highest-ranking university in U.S. News & World Report’s most recent Best Colleges list. For more information about the university, visit ou.edu.
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