Dialogues with the Past: Leveraging Conversational AI in Archives
Chaja Libot Karim Dahdah
Archives are treasure troves of historical and cultural information, but they are often inaccessible or unappealing to the general public. 

How can we use conversational AI to create engaging and immersive experiences that bring the past to life? How can we design narratives that are faithful to the archival sources, but also adaptable to the interests and needs of the users? How can we leverage the rich audiovisual material in the archives, without resorting to long and boring texts? 
These are some of the questions that we will explore in this interactive workshop, where participants will learn how to use conversational AI to create dialogues with the past.

The workshop will consist of three parts:
·	A brief introduction to the concept and potential of conversational AI in archives, with examples from VRT's projects and experiments.
·	A hands-on session where participants will work in groups to design and prototype conversational AI scenarios for different archival contexts, such as news, Video/audio-on-demand platforms, and education.
·	A plenary discussion where participants will share and reflect on their prototypes, and receive feedback from the workshop facilitators and other participants.

The workshop is aimed at anyone who is interested in exploring the possibilities of conversational AI in archives, whether they are archivists, researchers, journalists, educators, or storytellers. No prior technical or design skills are required, only curiosity and creativity. 

By the end of the workshop, participants will have gained a basic understanding of the principles and challenges of conversational AI in archives, and will have developed some ideas and skills to apply it in their own contexts.
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