With the advent of artificial intelligence historians have implemented machine learning tools that enable them to advance more quickly in historical research.
As Moira Donovan pointed out in a 2023 publication, the use of these tools allows for the processing of a greater amount of information than would be possible with individual analysis.
https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/04/11/1071104/ai-helping-historians-analyze-past
Some noteworthy projects that include the use of Artificial Intelligence applied to historical research are: The Ithaca neural network, developed by DeepMind, trained to reconstruct missing instructions or even attribute dates and locations to texts.
CorDeepl from the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science has worked on a neural network capable of classifying document content that includes numerical and alphanumeric tables, and locating, extracting, and classifying visual elements.
The Venice Time Machine Project, run by the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Ca’ Foscari, and the State Archives of Venice, undertook the task of digitising a collection of Venetian archives spanning a thousand years.
And, of course, the BADDO project focused on the creation of Artificial Intelligence specialising in Late Antiquity religion and its modern reception, specifically Arianism and the conversion of the Visigoths to Catholicism.
However, the use of AI is not without risks, as Artificial Intelligence itself could introduce errors, biases or even falsifications. The judgement and criteria of a historian remain essential.
The possibilities of AI pose quite a challenge, and although there is some scepticism regarding its use, everything points to the fact that, over time, more and more researchers will make use of these tools.
French historian Emmanuel Le Roy said it back in 1968: “The historian of tomorrow will be a programmer, or he will not exist.”
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Alfonso García Sánchez
