When bad AI meets history
The troubling rise of sanitized American narratives Founders Museum' from White House and PragerU blurs history, AI-generated fiction. Plus a joke written by AI that could have been the whole post.
As reported by NPR this week, a new exhibit near the White House is raising eyebrows among historians—not for what it includes, but for what it conspicuously leaves out. The Founders Museum, a collaboration between the Trump administration and conservative nonprofit PragerU, represents trend toward sanitizing American history through the lens of artificial intelligence and selective storytelling.
TL;DR? Here's a joke about it from an A.I.
I thought I'd ask an claude.ai write a joke about it. The AI oputput (unedited):
Here's a joke about the AI history exhibit:
"The new White House history museum features AI versions of the founding fathers. Apparently, George Washington's AI avatar keeps saying 'I cannot tell a lie... but my programmers can selectively edit the truth!'
Meanwhile, the AI Thomas Jefferson has been glitching—every time someone asks about slavery, he just keeps repeating 'Error 404: Context not found.'"
I probably should have just quit when I was ahead.
The fairy tale version of America's founding
Located in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, the museum features 82 paintings of the Declaration of Independence signers alongside AI-generated videos of historical figures sharing their "stories." But these aren't authentic historical accounts—they're carefully curated interpretations that blur the line between documented history and modern political messaging.
The most glaring example? An AI-generated John Adams declaring "Facts do not care about your feelings"—a catchphrase popularized by conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, not an 18th-century founding father. This anachronistic mixing of contemporary political rhetoric with historical figures reveals the exhibit's true purpose—reshaping the past to serve present-day ideological goals.
Erasing complexity for comfort
The treatment of Revolutionary writer Mercy Otis Warren exemplifies the museum's approach to historical complexity. The real Warren was a fierce critic of the founders. she scathingly wrote about America's "restless, vigorous, luxurious youth" lacking the wisdom to govern responsibly. On the other hand, the AI version reduces her to generic platitudes about patriotism. Her actual sharp critiques and nuanced observations have sanitized into comfortable, non-threatening soundbites.
This pattern reflects a broader tendency to present American history as a simple morality tale rather than the complex, often contradictory reality it actually was. As historian Brendan Gillis notes, focusing narrowly on a small set of experiences makes it seem "like this is all the American Revolutionary history that we need to know." A place where everyone was happy, not matter a subject of slavery or genocide.
The PragerU factor
PragerU's involvement raises another obvious red flag. The organization, which explicitly promotes conservative values through "edutainment" videos, has previously faced criticism for content that downplays slavery's horrors. In one notorious episode, an AI Christopher Columbus tells children that "being taken as a slave is better than being killed." Is it you genocidal maniac?
This track record raises questions about the motivations behind The Founders Museum. PragerU CEO Marissa Streit speaks of using America's 250th birthday to "reignite patriotism" while acknowledging America's "blemishes." they clearly emphasize the former and never reckon with the latter.
The cost of comfortable narratives
As historian Karin Wulf points out, the fullest understanding of American history requires acknowledging all voices—including the 40% of Virginians who white planters enslaved during the founding era. Yet The Founders Museum appears to be historical comfort food rather than nutritious engagement.
When we reduce history to AI-generated fairy tales that avoid uncomfortable truths, we rob ourselves of the opportunity to understand how we got here—and more importantly, how we might do better. Real patriotism requires grappling with the full story, not just the parts that make us feel good about ourselves.
Non in cautus futuri.
