How AI is helping bring Hong Kong history to life on Instagram and beyond
Cultural preservationists use generative AI to breathe life into photos from the past, but does this practice promote or distort history?
We humans seem hard-wired to find a strange, sweet comfort in the world of nostalgia.
This collective longing has found a digital home in “nostalgia-posting”, where sepia-toned snapshots from the mid-20th century fill our social media feeds. But a more complex chapter is being written as AI enters the fray, blurring the line between memory and machine.
What happens to history when technology begins to curate nostalgia?
Whether it is the roar of a 1920s Sheung Wan street or a quiet temple scene at Wong Tai Sin from 1968, the account’s posts make Hong Kong’s heritage feel current.
The platform was founded in 2020 by Siu Sai-yau, an assistant professor at the Hang Seng University of Hong Kong. He was joined by a team of Hong Kong researchers specialising in cultural history, digital humanities and intersemiotic translation who also have expertise in 3D modelling and video colourisation.