Navigating the Ethical Labyrinth:

Artificial Intelligence and the Preservation of Cultural Authenticity in a Post-Truth Era

Abstract

This research explores three interrelated theoretical aspects of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-mediated cultural heritage preservation: challenges in epistemological authenticity, power asymmetries in AI-driven conservation, and socio-technical structures in digital cultural activities. Employing a mixed-methods strategy coalescing critical discourse analysis, digital ethnography, and case study examination, the study probed AI-directed cultural heritage discussion and applications over the preceding decade. The findings exhibit that AI technologies concurrently augment conservation capacities while threatening historical legitimacy, enabling algorithmic bias and potential cultural homogenisation. The investigation unveils how AI conservation projects unreasonably give an advantage to Western European cultural artefacts regardless of Indigenous and Global South traditions composing a significant part of human cultural heritage. The study recommends an ethical structure dealing with representational power and data bias, which is causative to comprehending how technological structures mirror and redesign power relationships in cultural backgrounds. This exploration stresses the necessity of interdisciplinary collaboration between heritage experts, technologists, and policymakers to guarantee impartial conservation processes.