Applied History Project

Article of the Week 

“AI and the Historian” with John Lewis Gaddis (Professor of Military and Naval History, Yale University) in The Politic

Gaddis argues AI is creating a “substantial intellectual revolution” that “reinforces the validity of the historical approach.” In fact, the way in which AI identifies useful patterns in mountains of data is similar to the way that historians think, he proposes. Reflecting on his own six-year book project, he predicts AI as a tool for organizing and analyzing data would have greatly accelerated the process. Similarly, he suggests policymakers will benefit from AI’s ability to take “the three-hundred-sixty-degree view” of a strategic challenge or choice, akin to the role that the famed Office of Net Assessment currently plays in government. But he acknowledges AI can err or be overly deferential—so, he teaches students to “interrogate” AI-generated answers, including by asking the model to “toughen up.”

The mission of Harvard’s Applied History Project is to revitalize applied history by promoting the production and use of historical reasoning to clarify public and private challenges and choices. Founded by Professors Graham Allison and Niall Ferguson in 2016, the Applied History Project builds upon the foundation laid by Professors Ernest May and Richard Neustadt in the 1980s, reflected in their book Thinking in Time: The Uses of History for Decision Makers. 

Advancing its mission, the Project sponsors the Applied History Working Group of faculty members across Harvard University to organize discussions with scholars and practitioners; supports historians and policymakers in producing Applied History; develops courses in Applied History; funds the Ernest May Fellowships in History and Policy for pre- and post-doctoral students; and holds Applied History Events open to the Harvard Community and the public. Harvard’s project is one of the leaders among a rapidly expanding network of universities and think tanks that are furthering the discipline of Applied History by clarifying predicaments and choices to inform better decisions.

The Project gratefully acknowledges the Stanton Foundation's generous support for its Applied History endeavors.