Artificial Intelligence Creates “Immersive” Audio Experience at Saratoga History Museum

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Technology hasn’t yet advanced to the point that history buffs can simply hop in a DeLorean to explore the past, but it’s getting pretty close.

At the Saratoga Springs History Museum, artificial intelligence was used to generate more than four hours of audio content designed to help visitors immerse themselves in historic Saratoga. Ambient sounds and period-appropriate music abound in the museum’s new self-guided audio tour, which aims to transport museum goers back to the Gilded Age. 

“The stories we want to conserve in this museum are really important, and conserving them for a modern audience is definitely a priority,” said Museum Director James Parillo. “Trying to express this through artificial intelligence is something we really wanted to explore, and so far, I think we’ve created something really unique.”

The spoken part of the audio tour was created by simply feeding existing text into AI software; various male and female-sounding voices narrate the text seen on placards throughout the museum. But the rest of the tour’s soundscape is the result of AI’s more creative capabilities. This is most apparent on the third floor of the museum, where exhibits about the notorious Walworth family murder are accompanied by Haunted House-esque sounds of rainstorms, creaking floorboards, howling winds, and disembodied voices. (To fully capture the experience, headphones are recommended.) 

The audio tour was the brainchild of L.F. Leon, the museum’s director of communications. AI allowed Leon to create narration without having to hire someone to spend hours in a recording studio. The AI software, Leon said, also allows its user to own all of the material it creates. Classical music and jazz tunes heard throughout the tour were acquired from copyright-free sources.

As for ensuring historical accuracy, since all of the spoken audio was simply adapted from existing text, the information has already been verified by the museum. In other words, there’s no risk of AI simply making something up, as it sometimes is known to do. (That said, the AI narrators did seem to struggle a bit with the pronunciations of a couple Saratoga-specific names, such as Travers and Adelphi.)

QR codes stationed throughout the museum link visitors to a webpage that contains all of the audio tour files in numerical order. No app is needed. Each exhibit or item in the museum with a corresponding audio file has a number next to it, and the files can be played in any order. The audio tour also has the added benefit of allowing people who may not be physically able to climb the museum’s stairs to experience all of the exhibits auditorily from the ground floor. 

Visitors can experience the new audio tour for themselves at the Saratoga Springs History Museum, which is open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $15 for adults, $12 for seniors, and $8 for students. The museum is located at 1 E Congress Street in Congress Park.