GLAMorous AI TL;DR — December 2025

Who Is Responsible When AI Shapes Our Past?

Author

Alphaeus Lien-Talks
December 22, 2025

“The ethical problem is rarely the model. It is the institution deciding to deploy it..”

— A. Lien-Talks

Welcome back to GLAMorous AI, a short roundup of how artificial intelligence is being used in museums, archives, libraries, and archaeology.

This month, the focus is not new gadgets.
It is power, responsibility, and trust.

Virginia Dignum — Responsible Artificial Intelligence: From Principles to Practice
A clear explanation of why rules about AI only work when organisations take responsibility, not when they leave it to technology alone.
Read more →

🏛️ Museums, Archives, and AI Rules

Europeana Foundation & AI4LAM — Working Together on Responsible AI
Shows museums and libraries trying to agree on shared rules for using AI safely and fairly.
Read more → 

⚖️ Rights, Ownership, and Fairness

Paula Westenberger & Despoina Farmaki — AI and Cultural Heritage Research
Explains how copyright law affects AI in heritage, and why rules written for books struggle with machines that read everything.
Read more → 

Silvia Breemen — Slow Libraries and Cultural AI
Argues that faster is not always better when technology affects culture and memory.
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Klara Jonsson — Behind Archives and Collections (PhD thesis)
Shows how heritage voices are often missing when AI systems are designed.
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🧠 Making AI Easier to Understand

Charis Avlonitou et al. — Human-Centred AI for Art Museums
Asks how AI can support people rather than replace judgement.
Read more → https://www.mdpi.com/2571-9408/8/10/422

James Bowes — University Collections and Generative AI
Shows how lack of guidance leads to uneven and risky AI use.
Read more → 

Lise Jaillant — Navigating AI for Cultural Heritage Organisations
A practical guide for museums and archives thinking about AI for the first time.
Read more → 

❓ Big Question

If AI starts deciding what we see, read, and learn about the past,
who should be held responsible when things go wrong?

💬 About

I’m Alfie, a researcher and archaeologist exploring where heritage, ethics, and AI meet.
This digest keeps things short, critical, and useful — no jargon, no hype.

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