Fabian Offert

Fabian Offert is an Assistant Professor in the History and Theory of the Digital Humanities at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), with affiliations spanning the Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies, Media Arts and Technology Program, and Comparative Literature Program. He directs the Center for the Humanities and Machine Learning and leads the Volkswagen Foundation-funded AI Forensics Project. His research explores artificial intelligence’s epistemological, aesthetic, and political dimensions, focusing on visual digital humanities and machine learning interpretability.

• Education: PhD in Media Arts and Technology (UCSB, 2014–2018), Diploma in Applied Theater Studies (Justus-Liebig University Gießen and UC Berkeley, 2006–2012)
• Research Interests: Machine visual culture, generative AI ethics, interdisciplinary methodologies in digital humanities, and technical close reading of AI systems

His work bridges humanities scholarship with technical innovation, exemplified by projects like imgs.ai (a multimodal art history search engine) and the AI Forensics initiative. He has received over $2 million in grants, including a Volkswagen Foundation grant for AI Forensics and a UCHRI award for Critical Machine Learning Studies.

• Key Awards: Rudolf Wittkower Fellowship, Cambridge Center Residency, Fellow of the Regents (UCSB)
• Teaching: Courses include 'Critical Artificial Intelligence' and 'Digital Visual Studies,' emphasizing technical literacy and ethical critique

Offert is actively involved in academic governance, serving on UCSB’s AI Policy Working Group and DEI committees. His interdisciplinary approach has positioned him at the forefront of AI’s societal and epistemological implications.