University professor Jessica Ratcliff (USA) gave a talk titled “Artificial Histories: From Empires and Museums to Big Tech and AI” at the Autonomous University of Barcelona History of Science Institute. Ratcliff spoke about how technology interacts with the crafting of history and shapes our knowledge of the past. She also spoke about the impact a particular political economy or mode of production has on the practices of historians and the historical sensibilities of their communities.

Jessica Ratcliff introduced a set of research projects that consider these questions in a broad chronological frame, from the 16th century to the present. For example, she spoke about the role of the British East India Company and the India Office in the growth of the historical sciences in Great Britain, from the 1600s to the 1960s. She also discussed the recent emergence of Large Language Model (LLM) artificial intelligence, which, according to some, promises an entirely new paradigm of engagement with the past.

Jessica Ratcliff works on the history of science and technology. She specialises in social and material approaches to the history of knowledge, with a focus on Great Britain and its former empire from the 17th through the 19th centuries.