AI gives US Founding Fathers back their voices

Can the President of the United States launch a war against a foreign power on his own initiative? And what exactly is the principle behind US gun laws? Starting July 4th, we will be able to put these questions directly to the United States' Founding Fathers. Thanks to AI, the voices of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison are being heard once again.

America’s Founding Fathers hold a status in the US that is virtually unparalleled in many European countries. Through documents such as the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, these founders live on in collective memory, public discussions, and national debates and continue to shape American perspectives on national identity and history. Yet, even though these documents are widely known and cited, the barrier to understanding their meaning and context remains quite high.

Chatting with the Founding Fathers

Mark L. Thompson is an American-born researcher at the University of Groningen (UG). As a historian, he sought a modern way to make the historical sourcesthat form the foundation of his home country more accessible. With the help of the UG Digital Competence Centre (DCC) and the Virtual Platform Engineering (VPE) team at the CIT, he developed FoundersChat, an interactive platform centered on the collected papers of seven so-called “Founders” of the United States.

Thompson: 'This tool offers an accessible way to engage with these historical figures, based on their own writings rather than the myths surrounding them. Anyone can now search these documents using simple questions. It is even possible to chat with George Washington or James Madison. You can ask questions like, "What is the relationship between liberty and slavery?" or ask James Madison, for instance, how we should interpret the text of the Constitution.' The AI-generated answers are reliable because they are based on original sources from the Founders Online database. Furthermore, all answers include citations and links to the original documents.

Understanding American politics

The platform also indicates when an answer is not possible. Thompson: ‘Naturally, there are contemporary topics that cannot be found in the source materials. This applies, for instance, to a question about the right to abortion. At the same time, the platform is ideally suited for many other current issues. The question "What do the authors of these papers say about the authority of the President to wage war against foreign enemies without consulting Congress?" leaves no room for ambiguity.’

Thompson expects FoundersChat to be a powerful tool not only for historians of the United States and for the broader American public, but also for anyone wishing to understand the historical roots of American politics and law. Currently, the US National Archives database upon which FoundersChat is based attracts close to a million visitors annually.

The FoundersChat app will launch on July 4, which also marks the 250th anniversary of the American Declaration of Independence.
https://founderschat.app.rug.nl/ is available starting today at https://founderschat.app.rug.nl/ and runs on University of Groningen (UG) infrastructure, in line with our ambitions regarding digital autonomy.