Pictorial Collections and AI: A symbiosis in the making

About the project

The purpose of the thesis is to assess the possibilities and challenges that arise from the application of AI methods and tools in pictorial collections in Swedish Heritage Collections. In focusing on algorithms and tools, aiming to examine how new technologies may enable or disable possibilities for making cultural heritage collections more diverse and inclusive. Studying the implementation of AI in pictorial collections in museums and cultural heritage institutions, broadly defined. Focusing on cultural heritage institutions, the approach these institutions have towards pictorial collections for their classification and identification, and the AI tools and relevant strategies they use for curation and management purposes. The thrust of this study is to review such AI implementations and provide insights on how AI technologies may or may not facilitate diversity and inclusion.

Nasrin Mostofian is a member of the project Quantifying Culture: AI and Heritage Collections, that is kindly funded by WASP-HS (Autonomous Systems and Software Program-Humanities and Society) initiative of the Wallenberg Foundations.

The thesis is written as a monograph.

The supervisors are: Anna Foka, Gabriele Griffin and Isto Huvila.