History by Algorithms: AI and the Future of Historical Research

What changes when historical narratives are studied not only as texts, but also through mathematical models and computational tools? History by Algorithms explores that question across digital history, social science, and artificial intelligence—while keeping in view a crucial distinction: converting words into numbers is itself an act of interpretation.

A mathematical language for historical narratives

The book begins with tools for describing historical material mathematically, including asymptotic notation, function diagrams, differential equations, and the idea of treating word-count measures as clocks that can help identify points of change in a narrative. Its examples connect abstract methods to questions historians actually face, from defining concepts to modeling a battle.

Networks, events, and collective memory

Social networks provide a framework for exploring both macrohistory and microhistory. Later chapters use computational models to consider core and peripheral societies, the formation of collective memory, agreement about the past after witnesses are gone, propaganda, and stochastic terrorism. The emphasis is not simply on applying a technique, but on asking what a model can—and cannot—tell us about historical processes.

Where history meets AI

The final part turns to machine learning, large language models, historical text analysis, and video-based representations of historical information. It considers how computational systems might assist research while drawing attention to the choices involved in translating historical evidence into data.

For readers across disciplines

Written for an interdisciplinary subject, this book may interest historians and digital-humanities readers willing to engage with mathematical ideas, as well as readers from technical fields curious about historical interpretation. The author also identifies it as suitable for an advanced, single-semester course in digital history.

History by Algorithms offers a stimulating look at the tools—and the interpretive questions—that emerge when historical research meets computation.