[Photo via Xinhua News Agency]

Across the world, artificial intelligence (AI), satellite remote sensing, drones, 3D modeling and virtual reality are rapidly reshaping how cultural heritage is surveyed, monitored, protected and experienced. What was once a future vision has become a present reality. As Lazare Eloundou Assomo, Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, stated at the 48th session of the World Heritage Committee in Busan, Republic of Korea: Digital transformation is no longer a future vision—it is changing the way people understand, monitor and protect World Heritage.

This shift is not merely technological. It represents a fundamental change in how humanity relates to its shared cultural legacy—moving from passive recording to proactive risk detection, from static preservation to dynamic transmission, and from isolated interventions to systematic, data-driven governance.

A Paradigm Shift: From Rescue to Precaution

The most significant change brought about by AI in cultural heritage protection is the transition from reactive restoration to predictive, preventive conservation.

By deploying sensors that monitor temperature, humidity, light radiation, geological vibration and biological erosion around heritage sites, AI algorithms can analyze vast streams of unstructured data in real time. Through pattern recognition and trend extrapolation, they can provide early warnings for potential risks such as weathering, salt efflorescence, corrosion and subsidence—achieving what Chinese heritage experts describe as “treating the disease before it occurs”.

Case Studies

In China, the Yingxian Wooden Pagoda “AI+” project uses 3D scanning, drones and AI algorithms to create a component-level digital twin for structural monitoring and early warning, and was selected as a UNESCO typical case. In 2026, China launched Wenwu-01, its first remote-sensing satellite dedicated to cultural heritage protection, to monitor environmental risks around heritage sites.

Internationally, the EU-funded RePAIR project at Pompeii uses AI and robots to reassemble fresco fragments; Vindolanda Roman Fort in the UK uses AI to predict underground risks; and a regional workshop in Namibia, Africa, uses drones, 3D mapping and AI to strengthen local heritage protection capacity.

Ethics and Governance

UNESCO adopted the first global AI ethics standard, the Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, in 2021, emphasizing transparency, fairness and human oversight. A 2026 UNESCO-ICOM survey found that 57% of responding museums already use AI, but 55% have no internal AI policy or guidelines, highlighting a governance gap.

Click the link for more information: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000380455

Looking Ahead

Technology must serve the preservation and accessibility of cultural heritage, respect authenticity, empower local communities, and foster international cooperation under the World Heritage Convention and the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

(Compiled from ICCSD, Xinhua News Agency, UNESCO News, etc.)