# If These Walls Could Talk: Critical Play with Large Language Models in Museums

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.15565 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.15565/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 9 of its 50 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 14 Jun 2026.

## Builds on (most cited first, 9 of 9)

- [A Survey on Hallucination in Large Language Models: Principles, Taxonomy, Challenges, and Open Questions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.05232/) (2023)
- [Role-Play with Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.16367/) (2023)
- [The Troubling Emergence of Hallucination in Large Language Models -- An Extensive Definition, Quantification, and Prescriptive Remediations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.04988/) (2023)
- [On the Conversational Persuasiveness of Large Language Models: A Randomized Controlled Trial](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.14380/) (2024)
- [AI Art is Theft: Labour, Extraction, and Exploitation, Or, On the Dangers of Stochastic Pollocks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.06178/) (2024)
- [Algorithmic Ways of Seeing: Using Object Detection to Facilitate Art Exploration](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.19174/) (2024)
- [Sensitive Pictures: Emotional Interpretation in the Museum](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.01041/) (2022)
- [Using a Large Language Model as Design Material for an Interactive Museum Installation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.22345/) (2025)
- ["It became a self-fulfilling prophecy": How Lived Experiences are Entangled with AI Predictions in Menstrual Cycle Tracking Apps](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.13261/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Large Language Models (LLMs) are increasingly being used in museums to as role playing chatbots which let visitors talk to simulated versions of people and artefacts from the past. While such installations can be playful and engaging, they are also problematic because LLMs cannot be trusted to speak truthfully. I identify a fundamental dilemma for the use of LLMs in museum chatbots: LLMs cannot be trusted to tell the truth, and efforts to make them more reliable may ruin that which is attractive about the bots in the first place - their ability to engage in life-like conversation. In response, I propose designing for critical play with LLM-based bots: Designing for playful interactions with bots that are unreliable but still able to represent the past in an adequate and engaging manner - as fictional characters representing historical narratives, styles of discourse, diverse perspectives, humor and satire.