Artificial intelligence (AI) is quietly but profoundly transforming archive management. Once the preserve of experts and difficult for the general public to access, archives – whether genealogical, historical or administrative – are now being made more accessible and usable thanks to advances in AI. Behind this revolution lies a single ambition: to democratize access to these treasures of information and facilitate their exploration.
From digitization to automated analysis
The digitization of documents was the first major step in the modernization of archives. For years, archive services have been striving to put the most sought-after sources online: civil registers, population censuses, notarial deeds… This process has made these documents available for remote consultation, but their true exploitation was still limited by tedious manual searches.
Today, AI enables us to go one step further. Rather than simply making documents available online, AI enables these millions of pages to be analyzed and processed automatically. Thanks to sophisticated algorithms, AI is capable of recognizing handwriting, transcribing texts and enabling full-text searches in backgrounds previously inaccessible to most users.
Artificial intelligence, the key to unexplored data
One of the major contributions of AI is its ability to extract unsuspected information from documents that are often forgotten or under-used. For example, a notary directory, once consulted to search for a name, can now reveal much richer details: professions, addresses, economic activities… Information that would previously have required hours of manual labor to extract, is now accessible in a matter of seconds.
Herein lies one of the great strengths of AI in the field of archives: it can reveal links between seemingly disparate pieces of information. Unique, sometimes highly technical documents can thus be reinterpreted from totally new angles. A historical census becomes, with the help of AI, a precious source for studying the evolution of professions, migrations or family structures over several decades or even centuries.
Towards the democratization of archives
AI not only improves access to archives, it also democratizes their use. Archives, by their very nature complex, have long been the prerogative of researchers, genealogists or specialists capable of deciphering ancient writings or understanding the institutional workings of documentary holdings. Traditional search systems, based on keywords, dates or places, remained limited.
By automating the deciphering of manuscripts and enabling more intuitive searches, artificial intelligence makes these documents accessible to a much wider audience. Amateur genealogists, budding historians and cultural enthusiasts can now delve into these resources with unprecedented ease. The barrier of language, handwriting or archive structure is reduced, leaving room for freer, more creative exploration.
A revolution beyond genealogy
While AI was first used for large-scale projects, such as the processing of historical censuses, its scope of application extends far beyond genealogy. Today, sectors such as university research, sociology, demography and even economics are beginning to benefit from these advances.
Artificial intelligence technologies enable complex data to be extracted and linked to other information, facilitating large-scale analysis. Historical trends can be identified, migrations studied, vanished professions rediscovered… Research becomes more efficient and refined, opening up new perspectives for researchers and professionals alike.
A promising future for archives
The integration of artificial intelligence into archive processing is still in its infancy, and the possibilities seem endless. Current projects testify to the scale of this quiet revolution. Eventually, AI will not only facilitate access to existing archives, it could also anticipate future needs, by cross-referencing increasingly complex data to reveal information that is still inaccessible today.
Whether we are interested in archives for personal reasons, such as genealogy, or for more academic projects, artificial intelligence is redefining the way we interact with our past. It gives a second life to documents that are sometimes left aside, while revealing little-known aspects of collective and individual history. By making documents “talk”, AI transforms archives into a living, dynamic resource, ready to be explored by future generations.
In this way, the future of archives is more accessible than ever, propelled by a technology that, by unleashing treasure troves of information, enables everyone to write their own history.
Take advantage of our advice on archiving documents!
Don’t hesitate! For all your archiving, document destruction and digitization needs, you can rely on Archives Conseil and its 40 years of experience in the field! You can contact our team of professional archivists by e-mail at info@archivesconseil.be or fill in our contact form on our website to request a free quote.
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