The HistoriChat Project
Learning from Historical Figures through AI Engagement
HistoriChat invites you on an immersive educational adventure, where AI breathes new life into figures from the past. Engage, inquire, and learn directly from the voices of history.
The goal of this project is to enable a new method of learning in the Humanities. HistoriChat harnesses advanced AI technology to reconstruct history’s influential personalities, offering students and enthusiasts a revolutionary tool that transforms learning into a vivid dialogue with history. Gone are the days of passive learning; step into a realm where each conversation is a journey, each interaction a lesson, and every question welcomed.
Project Introduction
HistoriChat is an academic research project from Nottingham Trent University. The initial stages of this project were awarded internal funding from NTU’s Centre for Computer Science and Informatics (CIRC). HistoriChat is led by Dr. Jordan J. Bird, who is a Senior Lecturer in Computer Science; the project team consists of academics and experts from education and industry.
The essence of HistoriChat lies in its approach to education of the humanities. There are fewer methods of engagement in the humanities than compared to STEM fields, and this project aims to provide a new method of learning. By transferring advanced Artificial Intelligence technology and putting it in the hands of young minds, the project seeks to create interactive, conversational avatars of significant historical figures.
This isn’t just about learning history; it’s about interacting with it. Students and educators will be able to engage in dialogue with digital personifications of historical figures, turning every session into a live, immersive chapter of history.
Academic Research Team
Dr Jordan J. Bird
Project LeadSenior Lecturer, Nottingham Trent University.
Dr Farhad Fassihi-Tash
Project CollaboratorSenior Lecturer, Nottingham Trent University.
Dr Isibor Kennedy Ihianle
Project CollaboratorSenior Lecturer, Nottingham Trent University.
Dr Pedro Machado
Project CollaboratorSenior Lecturer, Nottingham Trent University.
Dr Salisu Yahaya
Project CollaboratorSenior Lecturer, Nottingham Trent University.
Dr Chloe M. Barnes
External CollaboratorLecturer, Aston University.
Advisory Board
Leicester High School for Girls
Education AdvisorLeicester High School for Girls is one of the highest achieving schools in the UK.
Checkpoint
Industry AdvisorProvision of high-quality and engaging learning materials inspired by videogames.
Professor David J. Brown
Academic AdvisorRenowned expert in interactive systems.
Professor Ahmad Lotfi
Academic AdvisorRenowned expert in computational intelligence.
Our advisory board is constantly growing.
If you wish to join us, please contact Dr. Jordan J. Bird via email: jordan.bird@ntu.ac.uk
About the Project
HistoriChat transcends traditional learning paradigms, offering students an interactive historical experience.
This initiative is grounded in academic research and the application of artificial intelligence – in particular, the use of state-of-the-art Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Machine Learning (ML). These advanced technologies have the potential to facilitate real-time engagement with historical figures. The experience will enable students to interactively discover a wealth of historical, cultural, and contextual knowledge.
Our Vision
We envision dynamic learning environments where learners go from from readers to active participants. Through AI-driven experiences, students can question, debate, and converse with curriculum-relevant figures from history. Our vision is to provide a deeper understanding and more nuanced view of the thoughts, motivations, and events from the past.
We aim to enhance critical thinking and engagement in students through a more natural, empathetic experience, which are attributes often underrepresented by conventional methods of learning.
Collaboration and Impact
HistoriChat is being developed in close collaboration with local educational institutions including schools. Input from educators and students is instrumental to shape the project with pedagogy in mind. If you would like to join the project team, either as an individual or institution, please contact the project lead at jordan.bird@ntu.ac.uk
Research and Development
Our research is dedicated to ensuring that historical representations are not only interactive and immersive, but also authentic. Our current and planned academic research projects are meticulous, involving in-depth literature review, data collection, and constant refinement of AI models.
Each AI learns from vast datasets derived from historical documents, textbooks, and scholarly works to replicate historical knowledge with linguistic style. Constant refinement enables the AI model to retain historical knowledge while remaining engaging.
Join the Team
As we proceed with this exciting project, we invite educators and educational institutions to join our stakeholders. Through valued feedback and participation, we can further improve the outcomes of this initiative.
To join us, please contact Dr. Jordan J. Bird via email: jordan.bird@ntu.ac.uk
Some of the images on this page were created using Generative AI models. These included Stable Diffusion and DALL-E 3.