Localizing with GAI in the Archives: Exploring Practitioner Attitudes on Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

This essay considers contemporary archival practices and recent developments in Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI). To anchor this study in workplace technical communication, we selected and interviewed twelve archival practitioners who are also technical communicators for visions for, experimentation with, and implementation of GAI in their various institutional roles. In this study, we had three objectives: (1) to explore current AI applications in archives, (2) to understand practitioners’ views on GAI’s benefits and challenges, and (3) to assess AI’s potential to enhance access and improve equity in archives and archival research practices. By focusing on practitioners’ attitudes and practices within workplace contexts, we advocate for GAI implementation approaches that center on localization, particularly the harnessing of “local knowledge systems.” The local knowledge systems of archival practitioners, their workplaces, and professional cultures play a vital role in archives, including the resulting knowledge-making and legislative efforts of institutions, communities, and individuals who use them. Consequently, archival studies and technical and professional communication (TPC) should attend to “participatory localization,” emphasizing local knowledge systems and community involvement as a central ethical and technical strategy for integrating GAI in archival settings.

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