Bowe Lubin (Photo courtesy of Bowe Lubin)
Not all high school students like using artificial intelligence to cheat. One of them is Bowe Lubin, a Polytechnic School senior who created Historia, a free, academic, nongenerative research tool.
By Paolo Calchi Novati
Historia is designed to be incapable of inventing information and quotes or writing theses, essays, and outlines. Instead, “The World’s Smartest Librarian,” as it is nicknamed, serves as a research tool for students by compiling sources from academic databases such as arXiv, the Smithsonian, and OpenAlex. Historia also allows users to search for books: the site states whether they are available for free online and lists their availability in libraries.
Lubin said that he started working on Historia about a year and a half ago, when he noticed many of his peers were using AI to cheat on assignments, and many teachers at his school were completely banning its use.
“I was kind of frustrated by all that because I think that there’s a lot of good that AI can add,” Lubin said. “In addition to that, I noticed that AI makes up a lot of stuff—like hallucinations—and I thought it was kind of ridiculous how it will give you fake quotes and almost make up history.”
He researched how students can use AI to learn effectively. One of the most important things he learned was that independent critical thinking is crucial for student growth, but that AI can be very helpful in finding sources. Using skills he learned in AP Computer Science A, and with some help from generative AI tools such as Claude Code, Lubin then created Historia.
According to Lubin, the way he created the site reflects how he intends it to be used: “I did the critical thinking aspect that you would say a student often does, and then I was able to kind of apply it with the resources that were around me.”
Lubin runs Historia as a company. He is the chief executive officer, and in July, he was joined by chief financial officer and chief marketing officer Jonathan Zhang, who is a student at St. Albans School in Washington, D.C.
According to Lubin, Historia does not cost much to run because it cannot use critical thinking to generate content—for example, to write essays—which means that it uses a lot less energy than generative AI tools. Historia operates as a nonprofit through its partnership with Hack Club, a global organization and federally designated 501(c)(3) nonprofit that seeks to spread coding among teens.
In the future, Lubin hopes to bring Historia to many educators and schools across the country and perhaps even charge schools for a subscription to keep the tool running. He also plans to increase the breadth of resources available in its database.
The tool is available for free on the internet at Historia.today.
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