History

If you work in History, the AI-assisted tasks most relevant to your work are archival research and document analysis, working with tabular and quantitative evidence, close reading of primary and secondary sources, and teaching preparation. Source criticism — always central to historical method — takes on new dimensions when the tools themselves can generate plausible-sounding but unreliable claims about the past.

Suggested reading order

1. Start here: Archives & Manuscripts — working with primary source documents, transcription, and contextualisation.

2. Quantitative & Tabular Data — working with census data, prosopographic databases, economic records, and statistical evidence.

3. Close Reading & Textual Analysis — using AI for source criticism, argument analysis, and engagement with historiography.

4. Spatial & Geographic Analysis — mapping, geographic reasoning, and working with historical gazetteers.

5. Teaching & Assessment — preparing seminars, tutorials, and assessments.

See also: Translation & Language if you work with sources in historical languages.

Further reading

• "Artificial Intelligence and the Practice of History: A Forum," American Historical Review 128, no. 3 (September 2023): 1345--89 --- Multiple perspectives from practising historians. Excellent seminar reading.

• Shawn Graham, Practical Necromancy for Beginners (Digital Press at the University of North Dakota, 2025) --- AI for archaeology and history. Good for framing, caution, and classroom discussion.

• Transkribus --- Handwritten text recognition for manuscripts and archival material. transkribus.org

• eScriptorium --- Open-source HTR/OCR workflows. escriptorium.inria.fr