From Tape to Code: An International AI-Based Standard for Audio Cultural Heritage Preservation - Don’t Play That Song for me (If it’s Not Preserved With ARP!)

This article describes a novel technology for preserving audio documents archived on open-reel magnetic tapes forming the core of the Audio Recording Preservation (ARP) international standard. ARP is part of the Moving Picture, Audio, and Data Coding by Artificial Intelligence (MPAI) Context-based Audio Enhancement (CAE) standard, adopted by the IEEE Standard Association as IEEE 3302-2022 in December 2022. Leveraging automated Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, ARP analyzes and extracts relevant information from digitized audio and video files of the tape’s corresponding digital Preservation Copy. This process includes identifying speed variations and surface irregularities on the tape, automatically rectifying errors to generate a restored Access Copy. By utilizing the ARP standard, archives gain a potent tool for expediting and optimizing the description of the preservation conditions of the tape, as well as automatically correcting any errors that may have occurred during the digitization process. This technology offers an efficient solution for managing both small and large collections of digitized analog items, marking a substantial advancement in the preservation of audio documents.