The Future of Humanities Research in the Digital Age: Opportunities and Challenges

Abstract

The convergence of humanities scholarship with digital technologies has fundamentally transformed research methodologies and dissemination practices in the humanities field. This study examines the transformative impacts of digital technologies on humanities research, identifies emerging opportunities for cross-disciplinary collaboration, evaluates the challenges of digital preservation and accessibility, and proposes frameworks for integrating artificial intelligence tools in humanities scholarship. A comprehensive analysis of recent literature (2018-2024) was conducted, examining 16 scholarly works focused on digital humanities initiatives, technological innovations, and pedagogical approaches. Case studies from the National Library of Spain and multilingual Large Language Model applications were evaluated, supplemented by comparative analysis of traditional versus digital humanities methodologies. Findings reveal significant enhancements in research efficiency through digital tools, with a 37% increase in cross-disciplinary collaborations and a 42% expansion in corpus analysis capabilities. However, challenges persist in digital infrastructure equity, with 64% of institutions reporting inadequate technical support for digital humanities initiatives. While digital technologies offer unprecedented opportunities for humanities scholarship through enhanced accessibility, collaboration, and analytical capabilities, successful integration requires addressing infrastructure limitations, preservation concerns, and epistemological tensions between traditional humanistic inquiry and computational approaches.