Artificial Intelligence in the History Profession
Over the last couple of years, artificial intelligence (AI) has seen an uptick in coverage in the media. Ranging from helpful things like extrapolating information from expansive articles and providing valuable step-off points for writing prompts, to more malicious uses such as art theft and deep fakes, AI is sadly a double-edged sword that is here to stay. It has become a sort of boogeyman in many circles due to its misuse and mishandling. It’s common to have a kneejerk reaction to new technology, envisioning the worst-case scenario for its use, and lamenting on the perceived simplicity of the past.
This isn’t entirely an outrageous response, either. Considering that as ages have progressed, there have been increases in struggles and worries. After all, the more intertwined technology becomes with our everyday lives, the bigger the risk and potential catastrophe when that same technology fails. Malicious use of any technology is always a risk factor, but the misuse of AI has some serious implications and consequences. Uses such as deep faked videos, artificial voice generation, AI generated photos and artwork all set the stage for a potentially dangerous field.
Within the field of history, there are equal amounts of risk and reward for the use of AI. Rather than focus on the negative, let us instead focus on what are useful and productive applications for AI. These uses are the only ones that may be used on our website.
First, AI systems such as ChatGPT have the potential to extract key elements of larger pieces of subject matter and summarize them. Following this, we can then highlight the major key points of an issue and use this as a springboard to begin composition. Note that we say that this is where we begin composition. The AI does not write the content, it simply provides the prompt and the baseline for us to begin writing. There is also risk with this. Chief among those risks is the chance that the information fed back is incorrect or not extrapolated correctly. Because of this, while these systems can be used to help with the baseline, all the research must still be conducted by a live person.
Second, AI can be used as an interpretive tool for digital media that reaches new audiences. Specifically, well researched information fed into an AI can assist in the visualization of events such as battlefield scenarios, simulate peer-to-peer engagement of historical figures with the audience, and using primary sources to paint historical depictions of key events. However, this requires transparency of the author. While this is something that is certainly cool and interesting, it isn’t something that we will be deploying on the website.
Lastly, there are elements of AI that you have already been using and that we use daily. We’re speaking, of course, of the editor. Editing is the most important use of AI’s and algorithms. It helps with how concise you are, finds spelling errors, and can help you stay on track. We’d like to think that everyone has used the editor in your devices, but we’ve seen your social media posts (you’re supposed to click on the squiggly lines, people…).
Ultimately, here at The Havoc & Historic Affairs, we will only be using AI as an editor and occasionally as an assistant to help with prompts. Content posted here will continue to be entirely produced and researched by humans. While we endorse and promote the responsible use of AI in the academic field, we caution all who use it to maintain the quality of product that only a human researcher can perform. As with all good things: Please use responsibly.
