AI Applications in Digital Heritage Workshop Explores How AI Can Unlock New Ways of Engaging with Cultural Heritage

Museums, libraries and archives around the world have digitised millions of heritage materials. But how can AI help people do more than simply search for individual artefacts? Can it uncover connections between people, places and events, helping us better understand the stories behind our shared cultural heritage? 

These questions were explored at the AI Applications in Digital Heritage workshop, held from 23 to 26 June 2026 and organised by the Asian Centre for Digital Cultures (ACDC). Based at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), ACDC advances research on digital cultures and develops digital methods and technologies for Asian contexts. 

The workshop brought together researchers, heritage professionals, faculty members, graduate students and practitioners from galleries, libraries, archives and museums (GLAM), providing a platform to connect and exchange knowledge across the digital heritage community. 

Over the four-day workshop, site visits to heritage projects and institutions across Singapore offered insights into how digital technologies are supporting the documentation, preservation and interpretation of cultural heritage. 

Presentations featured a keynote by Associate Professor Natalia Bolfarini Tognoli from Fluminense Federal University (UFF), Brazil, on computational archival science in the age of AI, alongside research shared by workshop participants. They explored how AI can connect collections, uncover relationships across historical records and make heritage more accessible. 

Hands-on tutorials introduced practical AI methods and tools, including knowledge graphs and graph visualisation, AI-powered API development, video analysis, and generative AI techniques such as Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG). 

Beyond the sessions, the workshop provided opportunities for participants to discuss shared challenges, build new connections and explore future collaborations, with the aim of strengthening digital heritage research and development in Singapore and the region.