Smithsonian launches AI-driven project to link Revolutionary-era artifacts

In celebration of the United States’ 250th independence anniversary, the Smithsonian Institution launched the Revolution Crossroads project, leveraging AI to map relationships among artifacts from the Revolutionary period. Since spring, the team has used machine-learning tools to find connections—such as a silversmith’s 1774 newspaper advertisement for a creamer that matches an item in the National Museum of American History—without the need for exhaustive manual catalog checks.

About 10,000 objects dating from 1770 to 1810 have been digitized or re-digitized to enable the AI analysis, with the goal of adding new entries to the public record about ordinary people of the era. Becky Kobberod, the Smithsonian’s chief digital and innovation officer, stresses that human historians still review AI outputs to catch nuances. The Library of Congress’s digital strategy director, Natalie Buda Smith, notes that the collaboration opens doors for researchers who might otherwise be unsure where to begin. While the project proceeds amid broader debates over AI regulation, the Smithsonian is deliberately avoiding the most controversial frontier models and relies on careful oversight.