"Why were you there? What did the students see back then? What kind of memory is May 18 for you?" A fictional middle school student named Yun Tae-ho answers such questions from visitors.
The Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) has developed an interactive artificial intelligence content called "AI Yun Tae-ho," which answers questions based on historical records. The AI does not simply make up stories. It searches for records related to the question and answers based on those records. It also presents the evidence and sources behind its answers.
It does not speak without records. The biggest weakness of generative AI is hallucination, in which it presents nonexistent facts as real. In history education, the problem is even more serious, because a single erroneous sentence can distort the meaning of an event.
A research team led by Kim Hye-sun, principal researcher at GIST's Korea Culture Technology Institute, designed a "trustworthy AI dialogue system based on historical records" to reduce this problem. The system searches a range of historical materials, including documents, photographs, audio and video. It can locate materials related to the meaning of a question even when the wording does not match exactly. The AI then generates an answer, and the system reviews whether the answer matches the actual records and whether the sources are appropriate.
"AI Yun Tae-ho" is a fictional third-year middle school student set during the May 18 Democratization Movement of 1980. While searching for a friend, Yun helps recover the bodies of victims at the Sangmugwan hall near the South Jeolla Provincial Office. In the end, he loses his own life.
The team made Yun a peer of the elementary, middle and high school students who make up the main audience. The intent is to let students encounter a historical figure not as a name in a textbook but as someone their own age. Visitors ask questions and AI Yun Tae-ho responds by voice, in a form of history education built on asking, listening and asking again.
On screen, Yun's mouth movements, facial expressions and gaze match his speech. Visitors are not limited to listening to a fixed explanation. They can ask about what they are curious about and follow up with further questions, exploring the historical event and the lives of people at the time.
The content will be installed at the Democracy History Nurituh, a tentatively named facility of the Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education scheduled to open in early November.
"The trustworthiness of a history AI depends on which records it bases its answers on and whether that evidence can be verified again," Kim said. "Starting with AI Yun Tae-ho, we will accumulate and address the errors identified through user questions and expert review."
The team plans to expand the scope beyond the May 18 Democratization Movement to other democratic history and cultural heritage, including the Gwangju Student Independence Movement. The goal is to develop it into a trustworthy cultural AI platform that connects materials held by museums, memorial halls and educational institutions to AI educational content.
