Reading has undergone dramatic transformations over the past few decades. Media and literary theorist N. Katherine Hayles has discussed how forms of reading, modes of attention, and even neurological architecture are heavily influenced by the medium of reading\u2014on screen vs. on print\u2014and its media-specific features such as layout, typography, and the presence of hyperlinks (Hayles 2012; 2021). Under \u201cmachine reading,\u201d Hayles refers to machines\u2019 ability to process vast amounts of text and uncover patterns that would be imperceptible to a human reader. Additionally, the ability to search for keywords in digital texts facilitates a form of \u201cdistant reading,\u201d enabling readers to engage with texts in new ways by adopting abstract, visual, quantifying approaches (Moretti 2013; J\u00e4nicke et al. 2015).<\/p>\n
Recently, literary scholar Julika Griem has proposed to analyze what she calls \u201creading scenes,\u201d where the practice of reading is explicitly thematized in literary texts and visual media. This media reflexivity enables us to analyze the changing forms, valuations, and norms assigned to reading as a cultural practice (Griem 2021). Griem\u2019s approach asks us to attend to the technical, social, and cultural contexts of the practice of reading in addition to its cognitive dimensions.<\/p>\n
The emergence of large language models has transformed modes of reading and introduced new forms of attention and valuations. Traditional reading methods such as \u201cclose reading\u201d that relies on an inquisitive and cautious analysis of a short passage\u2014a reading that pays attention to the formal and rhetorical dimension of a piece of text\u2014competes with automated tools that establish the relevance of the components of a text through the statistical weighing of its constitutive elements. The shifts in reading raise a series of critical questions:<\/p>\n
Keynote by N. Katherine Hayles (Duke University, US): Collaborating with Aliens: Large Language Model as Writer\/Reader\/Critic.<\/i><\/p>\n