‘We can stitch together our past’: the AI-generated time-travellers vlogging from history | AI (artificial intelligence)
Publish Date: 2026-05-26 06:01:00
Source Domain: www.theguardian.com
“I have just arrived in Tudor London, 1536,” a young woman in a green puffer jacket tells the camera. “I’m going to check in at my room in the inn, get into the market. Then, later I am meeting the actual king – yep, Henry VIII – in person.”
On YouTube and other social platforms, users are flocking to watch AI-generated “history influencers”, characters that vlog their travels to historical settings.
One of the most popular channels is Chloe VS History, with more than 610,000 Instagram followers and 15m views on YouTube. Viewers can watch Chloe try eel pie at a Tudor market, explore the first-class suites on the Titanic and take a plunge in an ancient Roman bath.
The format has been replicated by other channels, such as Janella Through Time, Nova VS History and Esmetimetravels. Popular destinations include ancient Rome, Pompeii, the wild west and England during the Black Death.
The creator of Chloe VS History, 32-year-old Jonathan Laramie, said the goal was to “get younger people more interested” in different periods of history.
An AI-generated scene from ChloeVS History’s YouTube video about HMS Titanic. Illustration: YouTube/Chloe VS History
“History is a very visual experience, but it’s just not taught that way,” he said. “It’s taught via a textbook. And that is not compatible with lots of students. So why not use the technology we have to bring that to life in a really visceral way?
“Vlogs are very popular on YouTube because people get attached to a particular character. I’m taking an already-proven format on YouTube and just applying it to history.”
While AI-generated historical videos have been circulating for the past year, Laramie said the sophistication of current AI video generation tools had “absolutely changed the game” for content creation.
“I was just thinking: ‘Wouldn’t it be great to actually represent history with a kind of “real person”, who has time travelled to that point?’”
Laramie uses…
