AI Is a Tool for Historical Thinking—And We Need to Wake Up to How Poorly We Are Teaching History

​This is a longer version of something I recently wrote for my school's website.
AI Is a Tool for Historical Thinking—And We Need to Wake Up to How Poorly We Are Teaching HistoryOver the past few decades, governments and policymakers have poured funding and resources into STEM education, often at the expense of other fields. The rationale is clear: scientific and technological advancements drive economic growth, innovation, and national security. Yet, in this rush to prioritise STEM, we have largely ignored the fact that many of the most pressing crises of our time—misinformation, the erosion of democratic discourse, and declining reading comprehension—fall squarely within the remit of history and its sister disciplines.
The irony is that while society scrambles to combat "fake news" and historical distortions, history as a discipline is still being taught in a manner better suited to the 1950s: rote memorisation of dates, names, and simplistic cause-and-effect narratives. Historiography, epistemology, and the complex interconnections between past and present remain marginalised in mainstream curricula. This failure has profound consequences—not just for our ability to make sense of the world but for the survival of democratic societies that depend on an informed and critically engaged citizenry.
The AI Panic and the Calculator ParallelEnter artificial intelligence. Many in the humanities, particularly in history education, have reacted to AI with a mix of panic and hostility, seeing it as a threat rather than a tool. The fear is that AI will erode historical thinking, reduce engagement, and encourage students to simply outsource their learning to machines. However, AI has the potential to do for history what the handheld calculator did for mathematics.
When calculators were first introduced into classrooms, they were met with fierce resistance. Critics argued they would "destroy" students' ability to perform basic calculations, just as some now claim AI will "destroy" historical thinking. Yet, over time, calculators proved invaluable in shifting maths education towards higher-order thinking. Research from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) has demonstrated that students who use calculators effectively develop better problem-solving skills and mathematical reasoning. Moreover, studies found that students who were allowed to use calculators on standardised tests outperformed their peers in complex problem-solving tasks.
Despite these clear benefits, early opposition to calculators was rooted in fears that students would become overly reliant on technology and fail to learn basic arithmetic. These concerns, now largely outdated, mirror the current alarmism surrounding AI. The argument that AI will prevent students from learning proper historical analysis is as shortsighted as claiming that calculators would make maths students incapable of performing mental calculations. In reality, the introduction of calculators led to a paradigm shift, allowing students to focus on algebraic reasoning, statistics, and calculus rather than being bogged down by endless computations. AI offers the same opportunity for history, liberating students from rote memorisation and enabling deeper engagement with historiography, source analysis, and argument construction.
The Double Standard: AI in STEM vs. AI in HumanitiesThe reluctance to embrace AI in history education is particularly ironic when contrasted with its widespread adoption in STEM fields. In medicine, AI is now being used to analyse complex datasets, diagnose diseases, and even predict potential outbreaks. In engineering, AI assists in design modelling, automation, and efficiency improvements. In mathematics, AI-driven platforms help students grasp complex calculus and statistical models more effectively than traditional instruction alone.
So why is history education still clinging to outdated methods? The problem is not that AI lacks applications in the humanities, but that there is a deep-seated bias in how educational innovation is prioritised. History, despite being foundational to democratic societies and critical thinking, is often treated as a secondary concern, its pedagogical advances lagging decades behind those in STEM disciplines.
Expanding Global AI Integration EffortsAI is increasingly being integrated into educational frameworks worldwide, with promising results. In China, AI-powered platforms such as Squirrel AI are being used to provide personalised tutoring, ensuring that students receive targeted assistance where needed. Similarly, Japan has begun incorporating AI-driven grading systems in history and literature courses, allowing educators to focus more on critical thinking development rather than repetitive grading tasks. These efforts illustrate that AI, when used appropriately, can enhance rather than diminish traditional learning models.
A UNESCO report also highlights AI’s role in bridging educational gaps in underserved communities. In Africa, AI-driven digital archives are helping students and researchers access previously inaccessible historical records, promoting broader engagement with diverse historical narratives. By leveraging AI to enhance accessibility, historical education is becoming more inclusive and globally interconnected.
AI, Historical Thinking, and the Preservation of DemocracyThe ability to think historically is crucial for the preservation of democracy. Democracies thrive when citizens engage critically with information, question dominant narratives, and understand the complexities of governance and societal change. However, when history education prioritises memorisation over analysis, it weakens students’ ability to recognise misinformation, engage in meaningful debates, and participate as informed citizens.
AI, when used effectively, can play a significant role in strengthening these democratic competencies. By automating lower-order tasks such as fact retrieval and basic summarisation, AI allows educators to focus on cultivating historical reasoning and debate. AI-powered tools can expose students to multiple perspectives, simulate historical scenarios, and facilitate source triangulation, ensuring that learners engage deeply with historical complexity rather than passively consuming information.
Educational institutions must recognise that the real danger is not AI itself but the failure to teach students how to think critically about history. If schools do not adapt to incorporate AI in a meaningful way, they risk leaving students unprepared to navigate an era of increasing digital misinformation and historical revisionism. A robust history education, supported by AI, can empower students to safeguard democratic principles by critically assessing narratives, challenging biases, and understanding the broader implications of historical events.
Ethical Considerations in AI Use for History EducationOne major concern surrounding AI in education is bias in AI-generated content. Since AI models are trained on existing datasets, they may inadvertently reinforce historical biases or present skewed narratives. Studies have found that AI-generated historical summaries can sometimes underrepresent marginalised perspectives or overemphasise dominant cultural narratives. Educators must therefore adopt strategies to critically evaluate AI-generated content and encourage students to question sources.
Furthermore, AI’s ability to produce highly convincing yet misleading historical interpretations presents a risk of misinformation. If students are not taught to critically engage with AI-generated information, they may develop a passive acceptance of machine-generated historical narratives. It is essential that AI literacy is integrated into history curricula, ensuring students learn to distinguish between reliable and misleading AI outputs.
Practical Implementation Steps for AI in History EducationTo maximise AI’s benefits in history education while mitigating risks, the following steps can be taken:

• AI-Assisted Source Analysis: AI can be used to compare and contrast multiple historical sources, identifying inconsistencies and biases. Tools such as Google’s AI-powered search functions and OpenAI’s historical analysis models allow students to critically engage with historical materials in ways that were previously limited by time and accessibility constraints.
• AI-Powered Research Assistants: Institutions such as MIT and Oxford are developing AI models that assist students in finding and contextualising primary sources. By utilising AI-driven search and summarisation tools, students can quickly locate relevant historical documents and construct more nuanced arguments.
• AI-Based Interactive Learning Platforms: Programs such as Century Tech and Knewton adapt to individual student needs, offering real-time feedback and personalised historical inquiry exercises. These platforms have been shown to increase engagement and retention rates, particularly among students who struggle with traditional rote memorisation methods.

ConclusionRather than fearing AI, we should embrace its potential to move history education out of its outdated, memory-based quagmire and into a space where students are challenged to think, analyse, and argue like historians. AI offers the opportunity to fundamentally shift history education from fact-recall to critical inquiry, ensuring that students develop the skills necessary to engage meaningfully with the past and present. Only then will we equip future generations with the ability to think historically, defend democratic principles, and navigate an increasingly complex world.

AIは歴史的思考のツールであり、教育の現状を見直すべきである近年、政府はSTEM教育に多大な資金を投じているが、歴史教育は軽視されている。その結果、フェイクニュースや民主的対話の衰退など、現代の危機に対応できる批判的思考が育まれていない。AIは歴史教育を強化するツールになり得る。かつて電卓が数学教育を進化させたように、AIは単なる記憶学習を超え、史料分析や歴史的推論を支援する。適切に活用すれば、AIは歴史的思考を深め、民主主義を守るための重要な役割を果たすだろう。

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