AI reads centuries-old port records to map Britain's historic shipping trade

Historians have built a first-of-its-kind interactive online map of Britain's rise as a global trading power, using AI to process hundreds of thousands of pages of centuries-old port records. The project pairs handwriting recognition with data visualization of the shipping trade.

• AI transcribed handwriting across hundreds of thousands of port record pages
• The data underpins the first interactive map of Britain's historic trade
• The map charts Britain's rise as a dominant global trading nation