The chronicle was published in our journal Business History 2025 #1.
What is more relevant than historical sources when belief in AI's ability to facilitate everything from writing student essays to supporting important societal functions is greater than ever? In my mind, AI is like a shapeless body fed with
information, which we suddenly have to relate to, even though, for example, Google has used the functions for decades without calling it AI.
One of our largest archives here at the Centre for Business History belongs to SCA, Svenska Cellulosafabriken AB, which was founded in 1929 in Sundsvall, with forestry as the core business. The company early on explored the possibilities of using AI to solve tasks. Among board minutes from 1984, a simple copy booklet is preserved titled "Views on the use of AI in SCA's factories."
In the text, they pose the relevant question "What is AI?" and arrive at the following definition: "Artificial Intelligence. Using a computer for tasks that require intelligence, i.e., some form of logical 'thinking.'" If you flip further, you can also read: "But it is important to note that a computer's intelligence or the result of intelligence depends on the information or knowledge stored in the computer."
We can conclude that AI really isn’t anything new. However, the use of AI tools was new for most of us just a few years ago. Before I became the school coordinator at the Centre for Business History, I worked as a high school teacher and program leader at a school in central Stockholm. I remember many teachers quickly reflecting on what AI would mean for teaching – not least for examinations. My own first reaction was to pull up the AI tool ChatGPT on the projector in front of my class.
Proud to be the first with the latest, I enthusiastically asked the students to suggest a question we could input. "What is a soul?" suggested one student. Another quickly admitted: "We have to write about that in philosophy next lesson." We jotted down the question and watched in amazement as the answer grew longer on the projection screen. Some in the class took out their phones and photographed the text. Shortly after, everyone grabbed their things and ran off to philosophy class. I noted that young people are quick to see possibilities.
Now that lesson feels distant, and I no longer work in high school. However, I meet students every week who come on study visits to us at the Centre for Business History. I also meet students when I lecture at universities and colleges about archival pedagogy. And guess if we talk about sources and source criticism! Perhaps precisely because of AI, original information has become more important than ever – what is truly history. When AI soon should write texts based on its own texts, at least the archives with primary sources remain.
What does ChatGPT itself answer to the question of what AI is? "AI, or artificial intelligence, is a field within computer science that deals with creating systems and software that can perform tasks that normally require human intelligence. This can include things like recognizing speech or images, making decisions, understanding and processing language, and solving problems."
It is easy to get excited about all the possibilities, not least within the archival field. Is it reasonable to use AI for things like facial recognition and handwriting interpretation? In some contexts, the answer is yes, but each company must decide for itself.
