AI labs need to start funding historical research
Using LLMs to trace alchemical knowledge and decode 17th century letters
I argue that pairing historians with frontier models like GPT-6 Sol and Opus 5.5 can solve real historical problems. I show examples: decoding John Dee's Liber Loagaeth, tracing an Isaac Newton alchemical translation, and uncovering a link between Newton and Samuel Hartlib via an anagram for Hungarian vitriol. I call on AI labs, researchers, and funders to pursue these collaborations.
I think AI labs, historical researchers, and funding agencies should start actively pursuing these collaborations.
- loufe
I've been using AI to help with my genealogical research, and it's been fantastic. I am loving pushing the family history back and catching mistakes that someone who many others share as a common ancestor have made.
- dr_dshiv
FWIW, I have tried my best to make the 10s of thousands of books on https://SourceLibrary.org ergonomic for both agents and people. All feedback welcome.
To date, it is the largest collection of agent-accessible translations on the web. The mcp pulls texts and illustrations — and the API provides access to the embeddings. It’s free.
We are based at the Embassy of the Free Mind in Amsterdam, a UNESCO-recognized library of alchemy, magic and mysticism (among other related topics)
And, it’s worth saying, I’m very much inspired by Res Obscura’s line of curiosity-driven humanist inquiry…
Dive into some historical mysteries, there are so many!
- whythismatters
Great post, thank you! So, let's resolve ancient Near East chronology and determine an absolute date for the sack of Babylon?
- Marchant_hq
My own attempts at 17th-century handwriting were a nightmare. If an LLM can parse that mess, sign me up for digital humanities.
- riazrizvi
This is a strong application of LLMs IMO. They are idea machines. Historical ways of thinking give us different paths to explore the world through.