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

What happened: The Smithsonian is using AI on its collection tied to the American Revolution, a project called Revolution Crossroads, as the US marks its 250th anniversary of independence. Why it matters: Researchers have drawn links that previously required extensive manual searches across multiple catalogs, and the project aims to add names of ordinary people to the public record. The Smithsonian says it is not using current frontier models and that historians review the data.

The Smithsonian is using AI on its collection tied to the American Revolution, a project called Revolution Crossroads, as the US marks its 250th anniversary of independence.

Researchers have drawn links that previously required extensive manual searches across multiple catalogs, and the project aims to add names of ordinary people to the public record. The Smithsonian says it is not using current frontier models and that historians review the data.