The Future of History: Who Writes History in the Age of A.I.?

The second installment of The Future of History, presented through the Meyer and Renee Luskin Public History Program at the Wende in conjunction with the UCLA Luskin Center for History and Policy.

History is a record of what we choose to keep. Now machines do the keeping. Artificial intelligence (A.I.) gathers, sorts, and generates the documents of our age. It can recall the past in seconds. It can also invent it.

What happens to history when a machine can write it? Who decides what is true? Whose memory survives, and whose is lost? A historian, a computer scientist, and an information scholar take up these questions, moderated by David N. Myers.

David N. Myers is Distinguished Professor of History at UCLA and founding director of the UCLA Luskin Center for History and Policy.

Tobias "Toby" Higbie is Professor of History and Labor Studies at UCLA and director of the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment. A digital humanities scholar, he builds archives that turn historical records into research tools.

Saadia Gabriel is Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering and founder of the Misinformation, AI and Responsible Society (MARS) Lab. She studies how language carries factuality, intent, and harm, and how to build more responsible A.I.

Cindy Anh Nguyen is Assistant Professor of Information Studies at UCLA. Her book Bibliotactics: Libraries and the Colonial Public in Vietnam (University of California Press, 2026) traces how libraries served as both tools of colonial control and spaces of public critique.

About the Meyer and Renee Luskin Public History Program at the Wende:

This series is made possible through the extraordinary generosity of Meyer and Renee Luskin, visionary philanthropists whose support has advanced groundbreaking research and community engagement across Los Angeles and beyond. Through their commitment to education, policy innovation, and public history, the Luskins have transformed institutions such as UCLA, where the Luskin Center for History and Policy is pioneering efforts to apply historical analysis to contemporary challenges. Their dedication to fostering knowledge and civic dialogue ensures that history remains a vital resource in shaping a more just and informed society.

As the museum will be closed during this evening program, please enter through the garden gate. The garden gate will open 30 minutes before the start time for check-in and ADA access. Theater doors open 15 minutes before the start time. Seating is first come, first served. An RSVP does not guarantee admission once capacity is reached. No late entry.

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