Preserving Technological Heritage in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: Approaches, Methods, and Perspectives

Abstract

The article examines contemporary approaches to preserving technological heritage in the context of the rapid development of artificial intelligence. Technological heritage—engineering structures, hydraulic facilities, machines, and elements of industrial infrastructure—has increasingly become the subject of digital documentation, reconstruction, and analysis, significantly expanding the possibilities for its study and long-term preservation. Drawing on international experience, the article discusses key directions in the application of AI: high-precision 3D scanning, multimodal archives, generative reconstruction of lost elements, simulations of engineering processes, virtual museums, and digital twins. Particular attention is paid to how these methods form a new research environment that integrates heterogeneous sources and enables the reconstruction of the engineering logic of historical objects. The second part of the article analyzes the development of digital technologies in Russia and Serbia, showing that both countries follow global trends but do so within different institutional frameworks: Russia—on a large and autonomous scale, relying on its own engineering schools; Serbia—selectively, through European standards and cross-border projects. The final part examines prospects for cooperation between the two countries in the field of digital reconstruction of engineering heritage, including joint projects in 3D scanning, digital twins, multimodal archives, and virtual museums. The article offers a comprehensive overview of the emerging methodology of applying AI to the preservation of technological heritage and outlines directions for future international collaboration.