Crowdsourcing and AI in Cultural Heritage: Can Technology Bridge the Trust Gap?

Can Artificial Intelligence (AI) and crowdsourcing truly democratise access to cultural heritage collections, or do they introduce new complexities? In today’s digital age, the accessibility of museum collections online is paramount. However, the ease with which these collections can be discovered often hinges on the quality and nature of their descriptions. Traditionally, museums have prioritised cataloguing physical attributes—such as dimensions, materials, and creators—over the narratives and meanings behind objects. This conventional approach can impede users’ ability to search for and connect with these collections on a deeper level.

At the recent Digital Collections Summit, Jessica BrodeFrank from the University of Illinois Chicago delved into these challenges. She illuminated how AI and crowdsourcing can synergistically enhance the accessibility and understanding of museum collections. Her presentation underscored the necessity of harmonising technological innovation with human expertise to effectively convey the rich stories encapsulated within cultural artefacts.

Crowdsourcing as a Solution

One innovative approach discussed by BrodeFrank is crowdsourcing, which involves enlisting volunteers to enrich museum object descriptions by adding tags or keywords. A notable example is the Tag Along with Adler project, hosted on the Zooniverse platform. This initiative invited over 4,000 volunteers to tag approximately 900 images from the Adler Planetarium’s collection, generating over 200,000 individual metadata tags. These contributions significantly enhanced the searchability and discoverability of the objects online, demonstrating the power of collective input in expanding and diversifying metadata.

How AI Assists in Cataloguing

Advancements in AI have introduced tools capable of automating the tagging process for museum objects. Technologies such as Google Cloud Vision API and the I-Met Tagger from the Metropolitan Museum of Art can swiftly generate descriptive tags, expediting the cataloguing of extensive collections. However, BrodeFrank cautioned that AI systems often mirror the biases present in their training data, potentially perpetuating cultural biases and overlooking diverse perspectives. This highlights the importance of critical oversight when integrating AI into cultural heritage contexts.

Ethical Considerations in AI and Crowdsourcing

The integration of AI and crowdsourcing in cultural heritage raises pertinent ethical questions. Crowdsourcing depends on the voluntary contributions of individuals, who typically are not compensated. Conversely, AI development often relies on the labour of underpaid workers responsible for training datasets. Museums must navigate these ethical landscapes with transparency and fairness, ensuring that their practices respect and acknowledge the contributions of all participants.

Building Trust with Communities

Trust emerged as a central theme in BrodeFrank’s presentation. In the Tag Along with Adler project, surveys revealed that individuals from underrepresented communities, particularly Black and Hispanic groups, felt that their narratives were underrepresented in museum collections. Crowdsourcing offers a pathway to address this disparity by involving these communities directly in the description and sharing of their histories, fostering a more inclusive and representative cultural record.

The Future Landscape

BrodeFrank concluded with a compelling message: AI and crowdsourcing are not merely technical tools but integral components of a museum’s mission to disseminate knowledge and tell inclusive stories. By thoughtfully combining technological advancements with human insight, museums can enhance the accessibility and relevance of their collections for diverse audiences.

For museums charting their future course, BrodeFrank’s insights serve as both a guide and a challenge: to embrace emerging technologies while steadfastly maintaining the human connection at the core of cultural heritage preservation.

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Jessica BrodeFrank spoke at the Digital Collections Summit 2023.