Satlow on AI and Word Similarity in the Talmud

MICHAEL L. SATLOW: Word Similarity in the Talmud. Professor Satlow has an ongoing project "to explore ways in which AI and machine learning can contribute to the academic study of early rabbinic literature."

Our first output is a tool that maps the similarity of word use in the tractates of both the Babylonian and the Palestinian Talmuds.

This is an experimental tool that uses machine learning techniques to show word similarities in the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds. It will also allow you to compare how specific tractates use a word. It works by first mapping phrases (the length of which is determined by the “Window”) into a multidimensional matrix, then computing the distance between those occurrences, and finally sorting these occurrences into clusters based on the distances. The parameters are explained further in the menu. You can hover over the points on the visualization to see more data.

Cross-file under Talmud Watch and Algorithm Watch.

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