Preserving the Past in an AI-Accelerated World with Justin Rosenthal

So we're very excited to talk to you today about this cultural past , about preservation , about museum collections and about your passion for all of those things . And I think , as we go forward faster with more technology , more artificial intelligence and so forth , those little things that we keep in memory , in collective memory , will be very much cherished .

What are your thoughts ? Tell us a little bit about yourself , your passion and your commitment to that passion .

I studied classical studies and archaeology throughout college and with my archaeology major I really honed in on museum studies .

Specifically , I took a class during my freshman year about museum collections and ethical considerations and practical applications , and being able to do this sort of hands-on work touching these objects , trying to discover and share their stories felt like really meaningful work , because it's storytelling and working with history in such a hands-on , physical way , and I

realized that this was a great way to tie together my interest of the past with my interest for writing and stories and just making a difference in education .

Maybe some get into healthcare , digital health and so forth , but you don't meet too many young people who want to look in the past , who want to look towards preservation , towards giving something back to society in terms of stories and making sure those stories are authentic as well .

How do you make sure that , in this world of fake news , in this world of manufactured stories , manufactured faces even , how do you make sure that those stories of the past are authentic ?

, who can understand the context and develop emotional connections to it . So I think that it really just takes a lot of commitment and care . Really just takes a lot of commitment and care . Sometimes the easier route isn't going to be the one that is more effective or that leads to stories that resonate more with people .

So just authenticity makes such a huge difference , I would say .

Tell us a little bit more about why collections matter in this day and age .

the past sharing these stories .

But then where ethics can start to come into play is that the stories we choose to highlight only represent a limited perspective on history , and so I think that collections practices have definitely been shifting a lot in recent years , where we're doing more work to intentionally seek out voices that have been overlooked , these untold stories from marginalized perspectives

, more everyday voices instead of just the people who were in power , and so I think that this work helps us better understand the past , and then we can use that to better represent the present and who we are today and why so .

There's a lot of work going into recognizing that no story , or rather no object , tells a complete story on its own , but rather it's about the context , which really only the human can fully understand , and the meaning that we can uncover from that context and what even gaps in the record mean .

The temptation is to actually stay home and potentially view it in various different formats , potentially even trade in art in digital form , and so forth and so on . How can we as a society , as humans , how can we preserve that experience of going to the museum ? Is it through , perhaps , integration of digital and real and AI in that matter ? Or is this battle

lost in your view ?

So I definitely see this shift towards using these tools a lot more in museums and collections in general .

But , like I said before , I think that museums are still needed because they're very human and I feel there are so many museums in the world and if people really were losing interest , we can just look at pictures online , but that's a totally different experience because you're not seeing these objects in real life .

But I think that you can supplement the digital world a little bit to make the experience just more engaging . For instance , I was volunteering for a museum in Athens , greece , while abroad for a semester , and I got to work on a 3D virtual tour that lets you know people from all over the world now see what this museum has .

I don't think it can fully replace the experience of going there in person and seeing with their own eyes and seeing it from all different angles , but I think that it's a great way of engaging with an audience who might otherwise not have the opportunity to be there in person .

There was one painting that drew my attention and the painting was about the coronation of a Polish prince who was installed over some of the Russian territories because Poland at that time was part of a Lithuanian Commonwealth and that territory belonged to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth . And I said , wait a second .

We have always known Poland as a country being invaded or partitioned or something like that . I didn't even realize that Poland actually owned part of Russia at some point in time .

So there's so many interesting things that you can learn in history from those artifacts , from those objects , and you almost imagine what it was like to be there , to be in this dramatic setting of a museum , to almost smell the paintings and smell the objects and really get into that experience , something you cannot do or copy while sitting in your office or your

room in front of a digital screen and imagining what it would be like . So I totally agree with you that experience is very authentic , very real , and it's really a connection point to the past , to history , to authenticity , in some cases right , of course you can jump on the phone and verify it and validate it . Then the question becomes

who's the validator ? Can you trust it ? But what you can trust is your own eyes , is your own nose , is your own experience .

We get to interact with museums , however we'd like , in all the exhibits there and form our own opinions , draw our own conclusions , and it doesn't even have to be a takeaway of this is a new fact I've learned .

But just this is an object that makes me feel a certain way and that's a totally different experience from just looking at these types of things online . So definitely is such a unique inherent value of hands-on interaction or even just eyes-on interaction in real life . So I absolutely agree .

But for right now , I know that there's so much more that museums have to offer that I really haven't been exposed to yet Different parts of it education or curation , or even like marketing so I'm really looking for positions that would give me experiences in different ways .

But I also I also am interested in museums that relate to history and culture , because that's what my background is in , and I think that I just I love that , the storytelling that these types of museums can do . But I know that there are so many other museums out there , lots of types that I've never even had exposure to yet .

So I'm really trying not to limit myself too much to anything at all , to limit myself too much to anything at all . But I think , regardless of the museum , the future definitely seems to be heading in a very technological track , which I think has value .

It's allowing us new ways of engagement , inviting new audiences , and I definitely see a lot of trends where things like community archaeology and community storytelling are becoming huge shifts in museums , as well as being so much more open about ethics and sometimes not as pretty parts of museums and their histories .

So we're definitely engaging in these types of conversations a lot more , which I personally think is a really great shift types of conversations a lot more , which I personally think is a really great shift .

It was filled with artifacts , photographs , instrument panels and so forth and so on , and I thought to myself gee , that is a really cool installation , and I wish that we would gravitate towards those types of experiences sometimes and treat those objects as museums , treat those objects as the experience and almost transplant ourselves into that time and transform into

that role , if you will . This is definitely something that is being forgotten and I hope it's going to continue . I hope it's going to continue because of people like you , because of people that are committed to this type of an experience .

Any parting words , any advice to those who may want to pursue their dream , even though that dream is difficult , seems unattainable . If you love something , if you're passionate about something , you have to stick to it , don't you think ?

by feeling so much more connected to the past , and it really just expands my perspectives . I find it so enriching and I think that there's value in pursuing work that just feels meaningful , even if it's tough sometimes . I think we need people like that , who want to pursue their passions like this and make change , because museums help people .

They help people connect to communities , they share stories , validate struggles and really really important work in a world that is , I think , gradually becoming more disconnected from really genuine stories like this and becoming a lot more based on what can get the most views online .

So I wholeheartedly encourage anyone who's interested in this sort of work to get involved in whatever way they can . There's so many opportunities out there now , even through technology . I've heard of different websites that allow people to transcribe old letters and other ancient artifacts from the comfort of their own computer at home .

So I think that as long as you really just keep your eye open and look out there , there'll be something for you .

I know that this podcast interview is going to be heard and watched by many and I'm sure that many will be absolutely impressed by you , by this conversation . We wish you best of luck in your endeavors and hoping to see you as a collection manager in one of the top museums in the world .