Griot & Grits Project preserving Black families' history using AI: 'Crazy and exciting'

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- In a pioneering effort to document and preserve Black family histories, Raleigh-based tech giant Red Hat has joined forces with local initiative Griot & Grits to create an innovative AI-powered repository of African American stories.

Founded by Ty McDuffie, Griot & Grits began as a podcast aimed at helping Black listeners document their family histories. The project has now evolved into what promises to be a first-of-its-kind digital archive, thanks to a collaboration with Red Hat software engineer Sherard Griffin.

"When I lost my mother, and I was speaking to one of her cousins, and she said, there's only a few of us left, and when we're gone, all the family stories are gone," McDuffie explained. "That kind of sparked the fire underneath me to preserve our family history."

The initiative invites African Americans nationwide to submit videos, photos, and oral histories of their families. Using artificial intelligence technology, these personal accounts will be transformed into professional-style documentaries that capture both significant historical moments and everyday experiences.

"Those are the elders that lived through civil rights. They lived through voting rights. They lived through putting a man on the moon," Griffin noted. "They lived through a lot of things, all the way up to Black Lives Matter."

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Raleigh historian Carmen Cauthen serves as one of several historical advisors to the project. She envisions enriching personal narratives with historical context, such as maps of plantations and photographs of formerly enslaved people who settled in Raleigh.

"I think about all the things today that I never asked my parents about, that I really wish I had and I knew," Cauthen said, describing the project as both "crazy" and "exciting."

The name of the initiative has deep cultural significance. In West African traditions, a griot is a tribal elder responsible for preserving and recounting the oral history of the village. McDuffie and Griffin aim to empower modern-day griots through contemporary technology.

"People are consuming information in vastly different ways than they did 50, 60, 100 years ago," Griffin explained. "We have to keep up with that."

The project officially launched at Red Hat headquarters earlier this month, with a team of approximately 15 Red Hat engineers now working to enhance the technology and address user privacy concerns.

In a significant development, the Smithsonian Institute has expressed interest in supporting the initiative. The National Museum of African American History and Culture plans to incorporate its extensive archives into the AI-powered documentaries created through Griot & Grits.

As this collaborative effort between technology and cultural preservation continues to develop, it represents an innovative approach to ensuring that the rich tapestry of Black American experiences remains accessible for future generations.