MF has entered into an agreement with MishMash – Centre for AI and Creativity to conduct research on manuscripts and cultural heritage.

About MishMash:

  • National research centre for artificial intelligence, established in 2025
  • Led by the University of Oslo (UiO)
  • Explores the interaction between AI and creativity
  • Brings together disciplines from technology, humanities, social sciences, and the arts
  • Focuses particularly on the use of AI in culture, media, education, and creative industries
  • Runs until 2030
Read more about MishMash

MishMash – Centre for AI and Creativity is one of Norway’s national research centres for artificial intelligence, led by the University of Oslo. The centre brings together researchers and partners from a range of disciplines to explore how artificial intelligence affects and can be used in creative processes such as art, music, and design.

MF’s contribution is part of the initiative on cultural heritage. MishMash formulates the challenge as follows: How can artificial intelligence contribute to ensuring the preservation, accessibility, and dissemination of cultural heritage in archives, libraries, and museums, while also safeguarding ethical and legal considerations?

– It is both inspiring and educational to be part of MishMash. We collaborate with people from most universities and university colleges in Norway, as well as other institutions such as the National Library and the National Museum. This provides many different perspectives and opportunities for collaboration, says Matthew Monger, Associate Professor of Ancient Languages and Literature at MF.

AI for mapping

Matthew Monger and Silje Lyngar Einarsen, Associate Professor of Religious History and Manuscript Studies, are currently working on cataloguing more than 4,000 artefacts and tens of thousands of pages of archival material at the University of Oslo Library. In recent years, the library has received a number of donations from the Schøyen Collection, which is regarded as one of the world’s largest private manuscript collections.

– In this work, we use AI to create a catalogue of everything that exists physically, and we scan and read in all available information about these artefacts. We can then use AI models to show, for example, networks of acquisitions, ownership, and antiquities dealers. The goal is to help the library map what they have received, how it came to Norway, and possibly uncover artefacts with a problematic history, so that these can be set aside for further processing, says Monger.