The Age of Transformers: Emerging Trends and Applications

Dear Colleagues,

Transformer architectures, which were first introduced in 2017, have rapidly become the backbone of modern artificial intelligence, powering breakthroughs in natural language processing, vision, and multimodal learning. Their ability to model dependencies and adapt across tasks has led to a wave of innovative applications, from large language models to generative systems and intelligent agents.

As these technologies mature, their impact extends far beyond their computational origins, reaching into the worlds of culture, education, and heritage. This Special Issue explores how transformer models are transforming our approaches to preserving the past and shaping the future of learning.

We invite scholars, researchers, and practitioners to contribute original work that showcases how transformer-based technologies are being applied in cultural heritage and educational contexts. We are particularly interested in submissions that present novel applications, theoretical frameworks, or critical reflections on their use and implications.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Digitization, preservation, and interpretation of cultural artifacts;
• Personalized and adaptive learning environments;
• Tools for enhancing accessibility and inclusion in education and heritage spaces;
• Automated content generation and intelligent educational resource curation;
• Language models and computational linguistics for cultural insight and dialogue;
• Ethical, social, and philosophical dimensions of transformer-driven technologies.

We welcome a wide range of submissions, including theoretical explorations, empirical research, case studies, and technical innovations. Our aim is to promote interdisciplinary exchange and deepen the conversation around how transformer models are shaping the future of cultural and educational practices.

Prof. Dr. Athanasios Nikolaidis
Prof. Dr. Charalampos Strouthopoulos
Dr. George Pavlidis
Guest Editors

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