The Newsmagazine of the American Historical Association
La Sagrada Família
After a long and evolving architectural journey in Barcelona, La Sagrada Família nears completion.
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In an Age of Distraction
The tension between AI and the teaching of historical thinking reflects a larger question: What is the purpose of higher education?
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May 2026
New technology often promises to solve problems. That’s what happened starting in the 1920s, when adding lead to gasoline promised to solve a noisy knocking in automobile engines. Yet that additive created another problem, when car exhaust full of lead polluted both air and soil and caused serious public health concerns. In “Where Are We Driving?,” Douglas Sackman argues that the history of technology should prompt us to ask what risks artificial intelligence might bring. Big promises are being made about how AI could revolutionize education. But what problems might it introduce?
Photo: Gene Daniels/US National Archives and Records Administration, Records of the Environmental Protection Agency, 545246/public domain
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About Perspectives
Perspectives on History is the newsmagazine of the American Historical Association and is the principal source for news and information about the discipline of history. Since 1962, Perspectives has cultivated the community of historians and promoted our work by publishing articles and commentary on all aspects of the historical discipline. The print magazine and its website showcase work by historians working in various professional settings.
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American Historical Review
The American Historical Review is the official publication of the American Historical Association and has been the journal of record for the historical discipline in the United States since 1895.