Visitors to the Canadian Museum of History now have an entirely new way to dig deeper into Canada’s history. By scanning a QR code installed near selected objects on view in the Canadian History Hall, they gain access to MUSEO — a conversational agent that allows them to ask personalized questions using their smartphone. Developed in collaboration with Ask Mona, MUSEO is an  experimental tool, available in English and French, that is transforming access to the museum's knowledge. Rather than limiting information to gallery texts, it allows the research conducted by the museum’s curators  to be accessed at the very moment visitors need it.
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For the Canadian Museum of History, the goal is clear: to test how artificial intelligence can enhance interpretation while respecting the research and curatorial  standards of a national institution.
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Providing Access to a Wealth of Content That’s Difficult to Display in the Galleries

In museums, exhibition texts must remain concise to ensure a clear and easy-to-follow visitor experience. However, behind every exhibited object lie years of research, archives, and analysis produced by curatorial teams.
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“MUSEO allows us to connect visitors with the depth of research behind the Museum’s collections and the stories they tell in ways that are immediate, intuitive and tailored to their interests,” says Robyn Jeffrey, Director, Digital Transformation, Engagement and Brand at the Canadian Museum of History. “By combining digital innovation with the Museum’s collections and expertise, we can offer visitors new ways to explore Canadian history while preserving the experience of engaging with the objects firsthand.”

The project's ambition was therefore to offer a tool allowing visitors to explore the collections according to their own curiosity and interests.
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A Pilot Project in the Canadian History Hall

To test this approach, the museum launched a pilot project in The Honourable Hilary M. Weston and W. Galen Weston Gallery (Gallery 3) of the Canadian History Hall.
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Today, MUSEO supports the discovery of ten objects exhibited in this gallery. Near these pieces, visitors can scan a QR code that opens the conversational interface on their phone.
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They can then explore different aspects of the presented objects: their history, their function, their cultural context, or the research conducted by curators.
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This tool allows the museum to test new forms of interpretation directly within the galleries, without modifying the exhibition design.
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Why the Canadian Museum of History Chose Ask Mona

To design MUSEO, the museum collaborated with Ask Mona, an artificial intelligence platform developed specifically for cultural institutions.
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The solution enables the transformation of a museum's research content into a conversational assistant that can be deployed directly in the galleries or on mobile devices.
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Unlike general-purpose assistants, MUSEO is based on a closed language model, trained exclusively on content validated by the museum. The responses generated by the conversational agent therefore come solely from the institution's knowledge base.
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This architecture guarantees the reliability of the information while highlighting the work of the curators.
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“MUSEO is the result of a close collaboration between our research and digital engagement teams,” says Dr. Laura Sanchini, Director, Research, History and Cultural Expression at the Canadian Museum of History. “The strength of MUSEO lies in the quality of the research behind it. The content draws on the expertise of our curators and has been carefully reviewed and tested to ensure visitors receive information that reflects the Museum’s standards."

For cultural institutions, this approach makes it possible to explore artificial intelligence without compromising the museum's reputation as a trusted research institution.
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Seven Months of Collaboration to Build the Assistant

The development of MUSEO was based on a close collaboration between the museum's teams and those at Ask Mona.
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Before its public launch, the project underwent a seven-month internal testing phase. Curators and digital teams analyzed the responses generated by the AI to ensure their accuracy and relevance.
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The system was also trained using the museum's internal editorial guide, which notably frames how to approach certain sensitive topics such as issues related to Indigenous communities, gender, or cultural diversity.
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This collaborative development phase allowed for the creation of a conversational assistant capable of meeting the research  and editorial requirements of a national institution.
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The system continues to be monitored and updated by teams at the Canadian Museum of History.
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Exploring New Forms of Cultural Interpretation

With MUSEO, the Canadian Museum of History is experimenting with a new way to engage visitors in the discovery of its collections.
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The conversational interface provides access to complementary information and allows visitors to delve deeper into certain subjects without altering the visitor path. It also paves the way for more personalized experiences, where each visitor can explore the collections according to their own interests.
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For the museum, this project is a first step in exploring digital tools capable of supporting audiences in their discovery of heritage.
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Artificial Intelligence Serving the Mission of Museums

With MUSEO, the Canadian Museum of History demonstrates that artificial intelligence can become a tool for strengthening the fundamental mission of cultural institutions: transmitting knowledge and creating connections between the public and the collections.
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By combining museum research, experience design, and artificial intelligence, this project opens the door to a new generation of cultural mediation tools.
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For Ask Mona, this collaboration illustrates the potential of AI when it is developed with cultural institutions and based on their own research content.
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Enriching the Visitor Experience Through Artificial Intelligence

Ask Mona supports museums and cultural institutions in creating conversational assistants capable of showcasing collections, strengthening visitor engagement, and making cultural mediation more accessible.
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Discover the Ask Mona Solution

Watch how MUSEO is enhancing the visitor experience at the Canadian Museum of History:    

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Read more about the Canadian Museum of History’s experiment with AI - Inside the Canadian Museum of History’s experiment with artificial intelligence - The Globe and Mail