AUK Launches AI Assistant for its OHDP Powered by Zendy

We’re pleased to support the American University of Kuwait (AUK) in the launch of an AI assistant for its Oral History Platform! This platform preserves interviews, photographs, transcripts, and personal stories that help document Kuwait’s social, cultural, and economic history.

With the addition of the AUK Oral History AI Assistant powered by Zendy, users can now explore the archive by asking questions in everyday language, making it easier to find relevant materials across the collection.

“We are very pleased to collaborate with Zendy on this initiative. The team has taken the time to understand our vision and translate our needs into an effective solution that will benefit our users and strengthen public engagement,” said Asma Al Kanan, University Librarian.

The new AI assistant gives users another way to interact with the archive. They can ask questions in their own words and discover relevant materials from across the collection.

For students and researchers, that can make a real difference. Oral history archives contain extensive details within long conversations. Finding a specific story, event, or perspective isn’t always straightforward, even when the material is publicly available.

At Zendy, we continuously explore ways to make research discovery more effective and accessible. Whether someone is searching academic literature or exploring a historical archive, the challenge is often the same: there is plenty of information available, but finding the right piece of information can take time.

“We are passionate about making knowledge more discoverable, accessible, and impactful,” said Kamran Kardan, Co-founder of Zendy, “Working with AUK gave us the opportunity to apply that thinking beyond traditional research content and into a collection that captures people’s lived experiences, memories, and cultural heritage.”

We’re proud to support AUK in making its Oral History and Documentation Platform more accessible and look forward to seeing how students, researchers, and the wider community engage with this important collection.