A Different Approach to AI: Bowe L. ’27 Builds Historia

When Bowe L. ’27 began thinking about how students could use artificial intelligence more thoughtfully, he was trying to solve a problem he had seen firsthand in the classroom: How could students use AI to become better researchers without allowing the technology to replace the critical thinking that learning requires?

The idea began about a year and a half ago, when Bowe noticed how quickly students were turning to AI for assignments and research. 

“I was noticing how students used AI,” Bowe says, “and kind of wondering why a different tool didn’t exist, or why companies weren't regulating AI to only produce the stuff that was useful and not helpful to cheat or hurt people's learning.”

His answer was Historia, an AI-powered research tool designed to support student learning rather than replace it. Instead of generating an essay or other finished assignment, Historia helps students find and evaluate information from academic and cultural institutions. Its sources include the Library of Congress, OpenAlex, the Smithsonian, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Digital Public Library of America.

“The tool is made to be an extension to students' learning,” Bowe says. “A student still has to do the critical thinking part and come up with the idea of what they want to write.”

Bowe began experimenting with prototypes after taking AP Computer Science at Poly. While the course gave him his foundational understanding of computer science, he taught himself much of what he needed to turn his idea into a functioning product. He worked in VS Code, experimented with different AI models, and gradually refined Historia as the technology improved.

For Bowe, one of the biggest problems with conventional AI tools is the temptation to accept their answers without questioning where the information came from. Large language models can make mistakes, produce biased information, or generate citations and quotations that do not exist. Historia takes a different approach by directing students to the original sources rather than producing AI-generated text for them.

Historia uses AI to sift through large collections of information and identify relevant sources. Bowe compares the experience to working with a librarian. Rather than replacing the research process, the tool helps students navigate the enormous amount of information available to them.

The platform also includes a feature designed to surface sources that disagree with the information a student has already found. For Bowe, that is another way of encouraging students to engage critically with what they read rather than accepting a single perspective.

“I think that's kind of what Historia does differently,” Bowe says. “It is not creating any output AI text at all. So, it's going to direct you to the source, and then the user and the student can read that.”

Bowe’s experience at Poly has shaped both the idea behind Historia and the way he approached building it. He has attended Poly since sixth grade and credits the school’s emphasis on questioning, investigation, and critical thinking with helping him develop the mindset behind the project.

Two of his teachers, Upper School Science Teacher Snow Liu and retired AP Computer Science teacher Richard White, also encouraged him to pursue the idea.  AP Computer Science gave Bowe the technical foundation to begin. Just as important, he says, was learning that a basic understanding of how technology works can open the door to much larger possibilities.

“You need to know little things, how to use a terminal, how to use this stuff, but then you can kind of run with it if you kind of understand it a little bit,” he says.

Since launching Historia, Bowe has seen students begin using it for research and has received feedback from educators and people working in AI and education. He has also begun working with a partner in Washington, D.C., to expand its use. His ambitions for Historia extend beyond building a successful product. He wants it to demonstrate that AI can be designed with boundaries that support learning.

“I want it to be something that just helps the overall environment of AI usage,” Bowe says. “One, prove these things can be regulated, so we can kind of work alongside it.”

For someone who has spent his final years at Poly building an AI education company, Bowe’s college plans might be unexpected. A self-described “humanities guy,” he is considering studying history or philosophy rather than pursuing a technical or STEM field. 

That perspective has shaped the way Bowe thinks about technology, and Historia itself. For him, AI is not the destination but a tool that can help people think, question, research, and create. 

As he looks ahead, Bowe hopes Historia can reach students well beyond Poly while encouraging them to approach AI with curiosity and intention.

“Do the critical thinking part,” Bowe says, “and make something cool alongside what resources you have.”