TRA UMANESIMO DIGITALE E INTELLIGENZA ARTIFICIALE: EVOLUZIONE DELLA NARRATIVA ITALIANA CONTEMPORANEA
BETWEEN DIGITAL HUMANISM AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: THE EVOLUTION OF CONTEMPORARY ITALIAN FICTION

Summary/Abstract: This article investigates the transformations currently reshaping contemporary Italian narrative in the context of generative artificial intelligence and digital humanism. Through a critical synthesis of interdisciplinary scholarship published between 2017 and 2025, the study analyses three interconnected dimensions: the redefinition of authorship in AI-assisted literary production; the emergence of hybrid narrative forms at the boundary between human creativity and computational generation; and the aesthetic, ethical, and institutional implications of these developments for the Italian literary system. Drawing on Floridi’s concept of distant writing and on the foundational tradition of Italian literary experimentation — from Eco’s opera aperta to Balestrini’s algorithmic poetry — the article argues that contemporary Italian narrative occupies a structurally ambivalent position: it inherits a rich legacy of theoretical and formal innovation that anticipates many of the dilemmas now central to AI debates, while simultaneously facing the homogenising pressures of a global digital ecosystem that systematically disadvantages culturally specific literary traditions. Attention is given to the risks of stylistic standardization arising from large language models trained predominantly on anglophone data, and to the erosion of the individual authorial voice as a marker of cultural identity and intellectual legitimacy. The article concludes by identifying three priority research directions for digital Italian studies: empirical investigation of AI-assisted writing practices among Italian authors; analysis of algorithmic recommendation systems and their impact on canon formation; and the development of theoretical frameworks adequate to the specificities of the Italian literary field within the broader context of global digital transformation.

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