Prompted Pasts: Illustration, Heritage, and AI

In her Keynote presentation, Rachel Emily Taylor begins by defining ‘illustration’ and ‘heritage’, exploring their overlaps and sympathies. She advances the proposition that illustration constitutes a significant investigative strategy within heritage practice. This argument is developed through the discussion of selected case studies, including her own work and that of illustrators Serena Katt, Amy Goodwin, Laura Copsey and Philip Crewe. The presentation concludes by revisiting the relationship between the two fields, situating it within contemporary debates on artificial intelligence, a central theme of the conference. In doing so, Taylor interrogates whether AI (Artificial Intelligence) might be understood as a new manifestation of ‘Authorised Heritage Discourse’ (AHD) and considers how the ‘multiple voice’ characteristic of both AI and AHD might be interpreted in relation to the role of the illustrator.

• Author
• Organisation