Kenya boasts a rich and diverse cultural heritage, but it faces threats from modernization, globalization, and societal shifts. Languages are fading, traditions are eroded, and historical artifacts are at risk. AI offers a promising avenue to safeguard and promote this heritage.

The NRF Kenya Call on Artificial Intelligence for Cultural Heritage (KAICH) invites submissions from researchers, professionals, and practitioners interested in advancing the use of AI in cultural heritage conservation. This call seeks to promote interdisciplinary research on both tangible and intangible heritage, utilizing AI models, tools, and methodologies for conservation, study, and broader public access to cultural heritage (CH).
In addition to exploring the technical applications, the call will focus on ethical and sustainability issues, fostering a dialogue that includes diverse stakeholder perspectives to create inclusive CH practices. The call seeks proposals that will encourage knowledge-sharing and the exchange of best practices among the cultural heritage and the computing community, with the aim of building synergies with related initiatives. NRF welcomes proposals contributing to the national growth of AI applications in cultural heritage.

Objectives:

The application of AI in CH preservation and management remains largely unexplored. In the spirit of embracing AI as a tool in CH preservation, this call aims at the following objectives:

a)  Leverage AI research to document and preserve cultural heritage through language processing, digital archiving, and storytelling.

b)   Encourage collaboration between diverse experts to address the complexities of CH preservation.

c)   Enhance research on Kenyan languages, traditions, and oral histories to contribute to global knowledge and inform preservation strategies.

d)   Promote the development of scalable, ethical AI tools for cultural data (language preservation models, digital reconstructions).

e)   Use AI to generate research insights that integrate
cultural heritage into national policies, education, and economic strategies.

f)    Address ethical concerns in cultural preservation (Indigenous knowledge, intellectual property, community consent).

g)   Develop sustainable research frameworks to assess AI’s long-term impact on cultural heritage.

This call will consider applications whose leverage and focus are on the objectives outlined above.

Application Details:

All applications for this call must be submitted by 14^th March 2025. Applications can only be made using the official application template. Applications should be submitted to NRF through grants@nrf.go.ke.