AI can measure our cultural history. But is it accurate?

Art and literature create a massive cognitive fossil record, hinting at past people’s psyches

This 1876 painting by Renoir depicts the life of leisure and prosperity.

New computational tools enable scientists to comb through large datasets of books, paintings, music and other art forms to understand past people’s psyches. This 1876 Renoir painting shows the life of leisure that emerged in France in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir

The feelings, emotions and behaviors of people who lived in the past don’t leave a fossil record.