Ask Mona is introducing Bosnia and Herzegovina’s first large-scale artificial intelligence project by recreating the voice of Emerik Blum, the former mayor of Sarajevo.

The avatar has been deployed at Planet Sarajevo, a new mediation center dedicated to preserving and sharing the city’s history and creative energy. The initiative reflects Sarajevo’s ambition to adopt innovative cultural mediation that evolves with its visitors’ expectations.

A distinctive feature of the project is its ability to communicate in Bosnian, French, and English. Integrating a less common language such as Bosnian was a technical and cultural challenge that the Ask Mona team embraced with enthusiasm. It highlights both the flexibility of our technology and our ongoing commitment to multilingual access in the cultural field.

Through this collaboration in Sarajevo, Ask Mona aims to make mediation more inclusive and useful for local teams while continuing to expand its expertise in international, multilingual environments.

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Context and purpose

Planet Sarajevo gathers creators, researchers, and educators who share a single goal: to convey the spirit of the city. It provides an ideal setting for an AI-enhanced mediation experience designed to reach a diverse audience. The project focuses on a personality who deeply influenced Bosnia’s political, scientific, and industrial history.

Developed in partnership with the NGO Kultura Medialna, the initiative pursues concrete, measurable results for cultural institutions seeking to modernize their visitor experiences without compromising content quality. Its priorities include:

• Highlighting audiovisual, digital, and experimental arts
• Strengthening international cultural cooperation
• Supporting education for young people and local communities

Sarajevo was chosen for its ability to connect industrial heritage with scientific culture and innovation. Here, conversational AI becomes a tool for cultural hospitality that is accessible, intuitive, and easy to use on site.

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Emerik Blum, a visionary of Sarajevo

Engineer, entrepreneur, and founder of Energoinvest, Emerik Blum was also the city’s mayor and a key figure in Bosnia’s modernization. Bringing his voice back to life turns a biography into a living dialogue. The avatar creates a bridge between historical milestones and current conversations about learning, technology, and progress. For both visitors and museum professionals, it provides a new way to engage with history and to spark reflection.

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The Ask Mona solution

Co-designed with local experts, the avatar greets visitors and answers questions with clear, verified, and contextualized content. Its multilingual capability removes language barriers and extends the mediation experience before and after the visit through digital channels.

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Measurable impact and future use

Switching to a conversation-based mediation model transforms how visitors relate to culture. It also gives local teams valuable insight into audience behavior, helping them plan and improve future programs.

Among the data collected at Planet Sarajevo:

• Most frequently explored topics and key visitor interests
• Language distribution to monitor inclusion and international reach

The implementation follows a simple and reproducible method: editorial design, experience mapping, AI integration, and local governance.

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Conclusion

The installation at Planet Sarajevo marks a turning point. It is the first culture and AI project in Bosnia and Herzegovina, led by Ask Mona. This pioneering approach reflects our ongoing mission: to operate across languages, anchor mediation in living places, and transform historical figures into interactive experiences that serve education and creativity.

By combining verified content, seamless user experience, and a scalable production model, Ask Mona is setting a new standard for cultural mediation worldwide.

Sarajevo is only the beginning, confirming our capacity to innovate where few have ventured to inspire, to teach, and to connect people through culture.

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