The American Space at the American University of Iraq-Baghdad (AUIB), in collaboration with the Iraqi Scientific Society for Technology and Innovation and AUIB’s National Heritage, Press and Policy Office, hosted a seminar under the title, “AI for Iraqi Cultural Heritage: Protection, Digitization, and Public Access,” where Dr. Abbas Al-Zubaidi, Assistant Professor of Radiology and Sonar at AUIB’s College of Healthcare Technologies, engaged a very enthusiastic student audience with a presentation on this intriguing subject.
Mesopotamia’s wealth of civilizational heritage is threatened by several destructive factors such as wars, looting and trafficking, and unregulated construction infringing upon archaeological sites, all while only limited resources are available for the preservation and documentation of this cultural treasure for humanity, as per Dr. Al-Zubaidi, who elaborated on the use of Artificial Intelligence applications in digitizing, understanding, reimagining, and reconstructing lost ancient architecture, landscapes, artifacts, and documents, thus supporting the processes of detecting risks and decision making in prioritizing efforts at conservation and reconstruction, but also enabling the establishment of virtual museums and empowering educational storytelling.
In the discussion that followed Dr. Al-Zubaidi’s presentation, AUIB students showed keen interest in preserving and studying their ancient cultural heritage, considering this a keystone for understanding their nation’s history. In this regard, the Dean of AUIB’s College of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Monica Hanna, spoke of the importance of interdisciplinary studies involving the study of archeology in shedding light on the economic, cultural, and political relationships between Mesopotamia and Egypt, for instance. Such deep and multi-faceted understanding of a nation’s history is invaluable in having a clear vision to shape its present and work confidently towards its future.