Machines, Scribes, and Scholars: Comparing Human and Artificial Emendation

This chapter compares human and artificial emendations to reflect on the role machine learning may play in the future of philology. Focusing on the oeuvre of the Byzantine polymath Michael Psellos, we consider eight machine-generated emendations against decisions and emendations made by past editors and scribes. Our aim is threefold. First, we join other contributions in this volume in showing the kinds of philological problems with which Logion can assist. Second, we reflect on the scribal and editorial history of the texts with which Logion is working. Finally, we hope to offer some examples of how to work through problems with Logion and thus show how machine learning can participate in the philological process as a new source of textual possibil- ities to be evaluated by philologists as they work to produce the best possible editions of premodern texts.