Journals / Uluslararası Kültürel ve Sosyal Araştırmalar Dergisi / 2026 / Cilt: 12 Sayı: 1

Epistemic Infrastructure, Generative AI, and the Governance of Digital Memory: Indexing, Power, and the Political Economy of Knowledge

Epistemik Altyapı, Üretken Yapay Zekâ ve Dijital Bellek Yönetişimi: İndeksleme, Güç ve Bilginin Ekonomi Politiği

Nazir Ahmad(University College London (ALUMNI))0000-0002-9677-7329
Pages
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Publication Date
2026-10-26
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AI Summary & Key Takeaways

AI Insight
⚡ TL;DR(Too Long; Didn't Read)

It instead establishes a defensible basis for governing documented uses of cultural-heritage corpora and for improving transparency where those uses cannot presently be verified.

📌 3 Key Takeaways

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Objective & Hypothesis:Generative artificial intelligence is commonly described as a novel engine of knowledge production, yet its operation depends on pre-existing infrastructures through which texts and records become discoverable, contextualised, and machine-readable.
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Key Findings & Data:Using a conceptual, interdisciplinary analysis of scholarship in science and technology studies, archival and memory studies, political economy, and law, it compares the United States, United Kingdom, and European Union and uses the 2023 British Library cyberattack as an illustrative case of infrastructural vulnerability.
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Conclusion & Impact:It instead establishes a defensible basis for governing documented uses of cultural-heritage corpora and for improving transparency where those uses cannot presently be verified.
🔬Design:Modeling & Simulation
📍Scope:2023 Verileri
⚙️Variables:Üretken Yapay Zekâ · Dijital Bellek · Epistemik Altyapı

Abstract

Generative artificial intelligence is commonly described as a novel engine of knowledge production, yet its operation depends on pre-existing infrastructures through which texts and records become discoverable, contextualised, and machine-readable. This article asks: how should archival and metadata infrastructures be conceptualised and governed when they contribute to AI-mediated knowledge production but remain institutionally fragile and only partly visible in copyright and AI policy? Using a conceptual, interdisciplinary analysis of scholarship in science and technology studies, archival and memory studies, political economy, and law, it compares the United States, United Kingdom, and European Union and uses the 2023 British Library cyberattack as an illustrative case of infrastructural vulnerability. The article makes three contributions. It conceptualises archival description and metadata as epistemic infrastructure; identifies a governance gap between copyright, database rights, and AI transparency rules; and develops a Digital Memory Charter with five implementable commitments: infrastructural transparency, reciprocal benefit, metadata stewardship, democratic oversight, and pedagogical responsibility. The analysis does not claim that archival metadata has a uniform causal effect on model training or that particular commercial models used British Library holdings where public evidence is unavailable. It instead establishes a defensible basis for governing documented uses of cultural-heritage corpora and for improving transparency where those uses cannot presently be verified.

Özet

Üretken yapay zekâ çoğunlukla yeni bir bilgi üretim motoru olarak tanımlansa da işleyişi, metin ve kayıtların keşfedilebilir, bağlamlandırılmış ve makinelerce okunabilir hâle getirildiği önceden var olan altyapılara dayanmaktadır. Bu makale, yapay zekâ aracılı bilgi üretimine katkıda bulunmalarına rağmen kurumsal açıdan kırılgan kalan ve telif hakkı ile yapay zekâ politikalarında yalnızca kısmen görünür olan arşiv ve meta veri altyapılarının nasıl kavramsallaştırılması ve yönetilmesi gerektiği sorusunu ele almaktadır. Bilim ve teknoloji çalışmaları, arşiv ve bellek çalışmaları, ekonomi politik ve hukuk alanlarındaki literatürü kavramsal ve disiplinlerarası bir yaklaşımla inceleyen makale, Amerika Birleşik Devletleri, Birleşik Krallık ve Avrupa Birliği'ni karşılaştırmakta ve Britanya Kütüphanesi'ne yönelik 2023 siber saldırısını altyapısal kırılganlığa ilişkin açıklayıcı bir örnek olay olarak ele almaktadır. Makale üç temel katkı sunmaktadır. İlk olarak, arşivsel betimleme ve meta verileri epistemik altyapı olarak kavramsallaştırmaktadır. İkinci olarak, telif hakkı, veri tabanı hakları ve yapay zekâya ilişkin şeffaflık kuralları arasında bir yönetişim boşluğu bulunduğunu ortaya koymaktadır. Üçüncü olarak ise altyapısal şeffaflık, karşılıklı fayda, meta verinin sorumlu yönetimi, demokratik gözetim ve pedagojik sorumluluk olmak üzere uygulanabilir beş taahhüt içeren bir Dijital Bellek Şartı geliştirmektedir. Analiz, arşiv meta verilerinin model eğitiminde tek tip bir nedensel etkiye sahip olduğunu ya da kamuya açık kanıt bulunmadığı durumlarda belirli ticari modellerin Britanya Kütüphanesi koleksiyonlarını kullandığını ileri sürmemektedir. Bunun yerine, kültürel miras derlemlerinin belgelenmiş kullanımlarını yönetmek ve bu kullanımların hâlihazırda doğrulanamadığı durumlarda şeffaflığı artırmak için savunulabilir bir temel oluşturmaktadır.

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Cite This Article

Ahmad, N. (2026). Epistemic Infrastructure, Generative AI, and the Governance of Digital Memory: Indexing, Power, and the Political Economy of Knowledge. Uluslararası Kültürel ve Sosyal Araştırmalar Dergisi, Cilt: 12 Sayı: 1. https://doi.org/10.46442/intjcss.1955910

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