AI Applications for Ancient Art History Education

Abstract

Recent global surveys (Chegg, 2025; Freeman, 2025) indicate that the vast majority of undergraduates already use generative AI (GenAI) to support their studies, and many want structured, ethical guidance from their institutions. This paper responds from the perspective of ancient art history education. First, it presents a case study of an interdisciplinary course (AI & Us, Arkansas State University, Spring 2024) co-taught by faculty in art history, philosophy, and graphic design, arguing that expert-led, cross-disciplinary framing is decisive for cultivating AI literacy and critical engagement. Second, it proposes classroom applications tailored to ancient art history at different levels: (a) a reverse prompt-engineering exercise that develops recognition and visual-analysis skills using AI-generated images as objects of inquiry; and (b) prompt-driven discussions that surface dataset bias and strengthen students’ search and source-evaluation practices. The activities go beyond prompt engineering alone and are designed to promote reflective, ethical, and academically rigorous uses of GenAI in both classroom learning and research.