In the last couple of years, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a central reference point and even buzzword within (digital) humanities. In almost every research proposal at universities and archives, the AI possibilities and capabilities are (over)emphasized, while those same institutions struggle with its limitations and pitfalls, not in the least with the environmental consequences of its widespread use. AI impacts how research is understood, conducted, valorised, and funded. Its fast-changing abundance of digital tools—from text analysis and image recognition to generative applications—is quickly altering the way historians, archivists, and teachers deal with the past and translate it to the present.

Yet, no substantial debate has taken place on a national level to understand how these processes affect our fields, professions, and society. This 2026 edition of the Dag van de Nieuwste Geschiedenis – Journée de l’Histoire Contemporaine, organised by the Belgische Vereniging voor Nieuwste Geschiedenis – Association belge d’Histoire contemporaine BVNG-ABHC and the University of Antwerp, aims to focus on the use of AI in (Belgian) historical research, heritage management, and education, and to provide a forum for exploring the opportunities, risks, and challenges of AI within the Belgian historical landscape by inviting contributions that approach these developments critically, empirically, and/or pedagogically.