Do you want to know what Michelangelo's David, icon of the Italian Renaissance, thinks? How he spends his days? Ask him curiosities about the period in which it was made? Interacting with the alter ego of the world's most famous statue is even easier! "Chat with David," the artificial intelligence project that the Accademia Gallery of Florence's website launched last December 2021, has landed on its final version, thanks to the volume of user interaction.

The system, automated software based on deep learning technology, continuously keeps the learning process active, allowing the chatbot to be increasingly capable of responding articulately. The project is the brainchild of Cecilie Hollberg, director of the Accademia Gallery in Florence, and was implemented using tools developed by Querlo, a New York-based company that specializes in producing technological applications using artificial intelligence.

Throughout these months, the chatbot has been enriched with content thanks to all the questions posed to it, which produced more than 16,500 interactions in Italian and 9,500 in English. It has been possible to add more than 70 answers, increasing by about 1,000 times the combinations to formulate the same question. A learning process that is always ongoing and constantly evolving.

"A great success," says Cecilie Hollberg. "Everyone wants to talk to our 'beautiful hero.' They range from food curiosities to inquiries about art historical interest and conservation. Some people asked him if he was lonely and wanted to go out, so much so that they even asked him for his phone number. It's a playful and different way to engage an increasingly diverse and international audience."

The initiative is in line with the will of the Italian Ministry of Culture, which strongly supports the commitment to the use of digital as a lever for the promotion of Italy's cultural heritage, and was also made possible thanks to the support of the Association of Friends of the Accademia Gallery of Florence.