Manifesto
Throughout history, human thought has been profoundly shaped by seminal texts — mythical, philosophical, and scientific writings that significantly influence our cultural and cognitive frameworks. From Plato's philosophical dialogues to Newton's scientific theories, these classical texts have crafted our collective worldview, often without our conscious awareness. At any given moment, they crystallize a conceptual coherence and become central to cultural dissemination, reshaping society through novels, political manifestos, and academic discourse.
LEGACY aims to reconnect contemporary culture with these foundational texts by harnessing advanced technology to facilitate unprecedented exploration and understanding. Our platform offers innovative digital tools that enable deep analysis, interactive visualization, and meaningful interpretation, transforming traditional engagement with historical literature.
Watch the video below featuring Raphaël Liogier, Scientific Director of LEGACY, discussing the vision behind this innovative open source platform:
Partners & Funding
LEGACY is developed by a dedicated team of engineers and scientific advisors, supported by a distinguished network of experts specializing in classical texts.
Funding is provided through a generous grant from the Stevanovich Institute on the Formation of Knowledge and the UM6P Chair of Transitions at the IAS.
Roadmap
The project unfolds through a series of milestones — from first public identity to full deployment for the global academic community.
- 01
Basic design for Landing Page, Team Page, Manifesto
Creation of the project's public identity through a streamlined landing page, a clear presentation of contributors, and a concise manifesto outlining mission, principles, long-term vision, and the values structuring open, AI-assisted scholarship.
- 02
Basic Library Interface (module 1 alpha)
Development of a basic user-friendly interface enabling exploration of classical texts with advanced tools for search, comparison, and annotation, ensuring seamless integration with UM6P servers.
- 03
Basic Knowledge Tree Interface (module 2 alpha)
Conception of a visual system that represents academic genealogies, enabling navigation through mentors, students, and intellectual lineages, and preparing the platform for public contributions and open-source publication.
- 04
Basic Great Conversation Interface (module 3 alpha)
Creation of a basic interface that maps explicit and implicit connections between classical texts, offering chronological and bidimensional network visualizations that support exploratory research on intellectual traditions.
- 05
Expansion of institutional partnerships
Structured outreach to universities, archives, and laboratories to broaden participation and secure new datasets.
- 2026 →
- 06
Visual overhaul
Redesign of all user-facing interfaces for clarity, speed, and coherence across platforms, improving typography, navigation flow, colour hierarchy, and layout consistency to meet modern UX standards and support multilingual displays.
- 07
LGC Phase 1 — Wittgenstein
In partnership with the Wittgenstein Archives in Bergen, Norway.
- 08
LGC Phase 2 — Hegel
In partnership with the 13/13 Seminar (Columbia).
- 09
Migration out of test environment
- 10
Integration of Knowledge Tree.io data with Academic Tree archives
Fusion of two major datasets into a unified, validated structure, harmonizing identifiers, metadata, and lineage links, in collaboration with the University of Chicago Knowledge Lab.
- 11
Automated Transcription of Bentham French Manuscripts
Implementation of an AI-driven OCR and transcription pipeline tailored to eighteenth- and nineteenth-century French handwriting, enabling rapid digitisation, searchable text, and scholarly annotation of Bentham manuscripts.
- 12
50 Mythic Texts from the Mediterranean Tradition
Curated acquisition, preparation, and publication of fifty foundational Mediterranean mythological texts, providing clean digital editions, metadata, and cross-linking capabilities for integration into the AI Library and The Great Conversation.
- 13
CRISP Integration
Integrate CRISP so that users can chat with webmasters.
- 14
Public launch
Final deployment of the platform to the global academic community, supported by onboarding materials, a 6-month outreach campaign, and institutional announcements, marking the transition from testing to sustained, long-term production use.