Language, Literature, and Career Planning in the Age of AI

Conference Date: April 25, 2026 (Saturday)

Abstract Submission Deadline: February 12, 2026

Notification of Acceptance: March 10, 2026

Venue: College of Humanities, National Chi Nan University

(No. 480, University Rd., Puli Township, Nantou County, Taiwan)

Contact Person: Associate Professor Huei-ju Wang

Conference Email: ncnu.dfll.99@gmail.com

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The humanities are often regarded as a form of “soft power”—valued for their cultural depth yet questioned for their immediate applicability, measurability of outcomes, or direct contribution to industry. This lack of perceivable “usefulness” has long raised concerns about whether the humanities can truly serve as a reliable foundation for a sustainable career. Yet the impact of the humanities does not unfold through speed or instant results; rather, it operates through gradual, permeative influence. Humanities education shapes the mind, enabling individuals to interpret experience, discern context, negotiate differences, articulate meanings, and sustain intellectual rigor and emotional depth in an increasingly complex world. Though difficult to quantify, these capacities form the essential soil from which long-term careers take root.

In a world of racing capriciousness, the only constant is humanity itself; therefore, the relevance of humanities literacy in career planning can only be  rising. With the emergence of AI, contemporary career paths have no longer been bounded by the logic of the accumulation of the skills and knowledge tranditionally regarded as “hard power.” To enhance the capacity of integration, communication, and cross-disciplinary understanding, the trainings of the humanities contribute strengths in close reading, narrative construction, critical insight, intercultural sensitivity, and most important of all, organic originality. These seemingly “soft” abilities provide profound inner productive originality, enabling individuals to produce and enact what technology truly aims at serving—the humanity.

The rapid progression of AI has made many technical competencies—once exclusive to STEM fields—more readily accessible, thereby highlighting the irreplaceable value of humanistic thinking. While AI enhances efficiency in text analysis, data processing, and content generation, it cannot replace ethical discernment, moral and aesthetic judgment, or the creation of meaning. Nor can it substitute for the subjective consciousness and organic creativity that defines what it means to be human. For this reason, the humanities and technology are not in opposition; rather, they are increasingly intertextualized. Technology expands the tools of humanistic inquiry, while the humanities provide direction, scale, and value frameworks for technological development. At this intersection, new research paradigms, cross-sector collaboration, and innovative career pathways may emerge.

This conference therefore seeks to reexamine the multi-layered relationships among the humanities, language studies, literature, and career planning. We invite scholars and practitioners to explore how humanistic strengths can be transformed into sustainable career foundations in times of profound change; how flexible modes of thinking demonstrate depth and productivity within a results-driven world; and how encounters between AI and the humanities may open new possibilities for future professional landscapes. Through interdisciplinary dialogue, we aim to envision the role of the humanities in the future—not as marginal or confined to tradition, but as a vital engine that empowers the welfare of humanity.

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Conference Themes (including but not limited to):

• Soft Skills and the Development of Professional Competence

• Language Proficiency and Changing Values in Global Careers

• Literary Reading and Leadership Communication

• Cultural Sensitivity and Global Professional Capacity

• Literature Education and Psychological Support in Times of Uncertainty

• Language Policy and Structures of Cultural Power

• Translation and Cross-Cultural Career Skills

• Textual Interpretation and Professional Ethical Judgment

• Humanities Backgrounds and Cultural & Creative Careers

• AI and Humanistic Critical Judgment

• AI-Generated Content and Authorship/Originality

• AI Technologies and Textual Research Methodologies

• AI and Transformations in Language and Translation Education

• The Role of the Humanities in the Age of AI

• Other related topics

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Conference Languages: English and Chinese

Presentation Time: 20 minutes per presenter

Please submit your abstract to: ncnu.dfll.99@gmail.com

Email subject line format (English in ALL CAPS):

Author’s Name / 2026LLC / Abstract Title

Submission Guidelines:

• Abstract length: no more than 250 words

• Keywords: up to 5

Please also include the following information:

• Full Name

• Paper Title

• Affiliated Institution

• Email Address

• Contact Phone Number