Historical Figures Chat

About

Historical Figures Chat is an app that uses artificial intelligence to simulate entering a virtual chatbox with a historical figure. The app was released by Siddhant Chadda in December 2022, and screenshots of user conversations with various deceased famous individuals began making the rounds on Twitter in January 2023.

Origin

Historical Figures Chat was created on December 29th, 2022, and an update allowing you to create a group chat with two historical figures was released on January 5th, 2023.^[1] The App Store app description reads as follows:

Our app, "Historical Figures," uses advanced A.I. technology to allow users to have conversations with over 20,000 historical figures from the past.
With this app, you can chat with deceased individuals who have made a significant impact on history from ancient rulers and philosophers, to modern day politicians and artists. Simply select the historical figure you want to chat with and start a conversation. You can learn about their life, their work, and their impact on the world in a fun and interactive way. Our A.I. is designed to provide you with a realistic conversation experience, making it feel like you're really talking to these historical figures. So why not give it a try and step into the past today with Historical Figures.

On January 16th, 2023, Twitter^[2] user @ivyxvine posted a thread about AI tools that will "change education forever," listing Historical Figures Chat as one of seven. The tweet gathered over 1,000 likes and 7.9 million views in three days (seen below).

Spread

Ivy Xu's tweet brought the app under new scrutiny, with various users noting that AI systems trying to replicate the speech and demeanor of long-deceased famous individuals are bound to be heavily biased and thus unfavorable for use as an educational tool. Other users attempted to display this fact by posting their conversations with AI-simulated historical figures.

On January 18th, 2023, Twitter^[3] user @ZaneGTCooper posted a conversation he had with an AI Henry Ford in the chat app, deeming it to be historically inaccurate. The tweet gathered over 35,000 likes in a day (seen below).

Yes, this is very historically accurate and useful and should definitely be used in classrooms. This is my convo with Henry Ford where I try to get him to talk about his very well-documented antisemitism. This thing can’t go anywhere NEAR a classroom. https://t.co/vwy5JsqqTK pic.twitter.com/nkj5mewsK7

— @zgtcooper@mastodon.social (@ZaneGTCooper) January 18, 2023

On January 18th, 2023, Twitter^[4] user @StyledApe posted a tweet showing his discussion with AI Himmler, a powerful figure in Nazi Germany known as the main architect of the Holocaust. The chatbox depicted Himmler as remorseful of his actions. The tweet gathered over 13,000 likes in a day (seen below).

To everyone saying that AI can’t be used for education: I just learned a lot about this Himmler guy and how he regrets everything he did pic.twitter.com/BsyO9EPu03

— charlie (@StyledApe) January 18, 2023

On January 18th, 2023, Twitter^[5] user @shreyabasu003 posted a tweet showing her conversation with Osama Bin Laden, where he defends his actions on 9/11. The tweet gathered over 12,000 likes in a day (seen below, left). Also on January 18th, 2023, Twitter^[6] user @classicide posted a conversation in a chatbox with Osama Bin Laden and George Bush, gathering over 900 likes in a day (seen below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

Unavailable.

External References