AI Agents and Tools for Investigating Large Text Collections

Generative AI is not just the well-known ChatGPT interface, but an entire ecosystem of agentic technologies. Modern AI providers are developing tools to interact directly with these systems, such as the OpenAI Codex desktop application and Claude Code. Although these tools are primarily associated with coding and software development, their capabilities go far beyond this highly specialized usage. Since agentic technologies can access local files, internet search engines, and remote databases -- and possess built-in programming skills -- their utility extends well beyond experienced programmers. In this workshop, I will demonstrate how to use OpenAI Codex to analyze large corpora, interact with Sketch Engine, and visualize the results -- all using natural language without requiring any prior programming skills. The idea is simple: ask the right questions and let the agents orchestrate the tools.

This will be an in-person event which is open to all members of the University. Registration is not required. Online participation will not be possible. If you are not a member of the University and would like to attend, please contact academic-office@ling-phil.ox.ac.uk.