Convergences. AI, editorial practice, and the Danish Digital Scholarly Edition of Grundtvig’s Works

Abstract

Abstract

Abstract This article examines how artificial intelligence (AI) challenges and enhances editorial practice in the long-term Digital Scholarly Edition of Grundtvig’s Works (2010–2030). Focusing on named entity recognition, semantic annotation, and biblical reference detection, the authors explore how computational methods – particularly large language models (LLMs) – are evaluated and applied within a Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) framework. The article argues that while such tools can ease repetitive tasks and support editorial workflows, they must be aligned with the interpretive, philological, and historical foundations of scholarly editing. Through concrete examples from annotation practices and manuscript transcription, the authors show how editorial work remains a critical interpretive act. The article also outlines efforts to integrate AI-assisted methods into the digitisation and enrichment of Grundtvig’s extensive manuscript archive. Rather than automation replacing expertise, it proposes a model of methodological convergence: where digital tools extend the possibilities of human judgment in scholarly editions.