How the Smithsonian is using AI to connect artifacts from the American Revolution

WASHINGTON (AP) — The distance in the march from the American Revolution to the age of artificial intelligence is almost beyond comprehension. But leaders of the Smithsonian Institution are using AI to bridge the divide. As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary of independence, Smithsonian leaders are turning to AI to better understand items in its collection tied to the fight that led to the country’s founding.

The goal is to allow the public and scholars to both search the institution’s collection and draw connections across the Smithsonian and other organizations, such as the Library of Congress, to gain a deeper sense of how communities formed and functioned at the nation’s birth. Since researchers on the project, known as Revolution Crossroads, began applying AI models in the spring, they have quickly drawn links that would have previously required extensive manual searches across multiple catalogs. They located, for instance, a silversmith who was running newspaper advertisements for a creamer around 1774, similar to one held at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

The ultimate ambition is to scour records and surface new stories about people whose lives have faded away over the centuries. “An ideal scenario is that we get to a place where we’re actually adding to the public record,” said Becky Kobberod, the chief digital and innovation officer at the Smithsonian. “Maybe they’re not Thomas Jefferson or George Washington, but they did live in a community and build that community, and that name is now known.” Since its founding in 1846, the Smithsonian has curated the nation’s history and culture across an operation that now spans 21 museums and galleries, including the National Zoo.

It’s a role that’s taken on new significance as Republican President Donald Trump has questioned some of the institution’s portrayals. Kobberod’s team has identified about 10,000 objects centered on people who lived during the 40-year period from 1770 to 1810. They have had to digitize — and in some cases redigitize — the objects to make them more accessible to AI.

The public can search the records online. For Natalie Buda Smith, the director of digital strategy at the Library of Congress, the project is a reminder that these institutions are deeply engaged in rapidly evolving technology. This work, she said, can help people researching materi…

The public can search the records online.For Natalie Buda Smith, the director of digital strategy at the Library of Congress, the project is a reminder that these institutions are deeply engaged in rapidly evolving technology. This work, she said, can help people researching materials who …