Historian Rajkumar Pokharel Highlights Challenges in Historical Preservation Due to Technology and AI

Kathmandu. Historian Rajkumar Pokharel has stated that the increasing use of technology and AI has created challenges in the preservation of history and the collection of historical materials. He said this while speaking at a meeting of the National Assembly's Public Policy and Delegated Legislation Committee on Monday.

He said that legal reforms are needed to reduce the impact of unverified historical materials disseminated through digital media. He also said that the practice of keeping historical documents held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Nepali Army, and the Nepal Police secret for a long time hinders the study of diplomatic and security history.

He said that arrangements should be made to transfer diplomatic and security-related history documents to the National Archives or historical preservation bodies after a certain period. He expressed concern that even records related to the Panchayat system, which ended four decades ago, are not readily available for study.

He said, "The activities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are making the writing of history on diplomatic relations complex. Secondly, some of our research materials are with the army and police. These things may not be public for 10 years, but they should be given after that. Even if they keep it outside for a certain period for reasons of confidentiality, they themselves break it after a certain time."

He further said, "After 10 years, those documents are handed over to a certain historical material collection body, even a government body. It does not have to be kept locked up or decorated in a library. This is also causing problems in the context of Nepal. Secondly, to understand the source materials, how do we preserve YouTube? How do we collect and keep it? Just because history appears on YouTube does not mean all of it is history, and not all sources are true. To understand history, we examine the sources of history. We do internal and external testing. If it is not correct, then that material is wrong. In the age of AI, it is difficult to distinguish between right and wrong."

He said that the government should focus on enacting and implementing laws to prevent unverified historical interpretations.