MAKÜ students created Mehmet Akif Ersoy's Artificial Intelligence Model.

Students of Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University have signed an attention-grabbing project by bringing our National Poet Mehmet Akif Ersoy together with modern technology.

The team consisting of 4th-year students from the Faculty of Art and Design, Furkan Köroğlu, Muhammed Salih Kara, and Yusuf Akkuş, who have attracted attention with their work in the field of artificial intelligence, managed to model Mehmet Akif Ersoy's unique style and language use with artificial intelligence by analyzing his poems with deep learning techniques. The project was created with the integration of metahuman technology and artificial intelligence.

The students explained the purpose of the project as follows: "We wanted to reach a wider audience with the works of a great poet like Mehmet Akif Ersoy and rediscover his aesthetic language with modern technology. This artificial intelligence model could be an important tool in passing on Ersoy's literary heritage to future generations. In the project, we used the wax sculpture located at our university to obtain the realistic facial features of Mehmet Akif Ersoy. We obtained its 3D version using the Photogrammetry method. We created his visual identity such as hair, beard, mustache, and clothing using 3D techniques. We used data from the Mehmet Akif Ersoy Application and Research Center and information available on the internet. We trained artificial intelligence with the data we obtained. We added a characteristic feature to his digital twin, the metahuman character. He constantly educates himself along with questions."

Interacting with an Artificial Intelligence Character Based on Mehmet Akif Ersoy's Digital Trace

Project Coordinator and Faculty Member of the Faculty of Art and Design, Assoc. Prof. Murat Kara, who emphasized that artificial intelligence technology is becoming more prominent in our lives day by day, said, "The special and different nature of the project, as well as the active involvement of the students and the fact that it is a work that has not been done before. Artificial intelligence technology has become quite popular today, and we evaluated this technology in this project. Our students were very eager to share new technologies with us from time to time. The new generation is very curious and eager. While thinking about how we can use the new generation technologies shown to us by them in this museum, this study emerged. Because we combined the students' skills in creating virtual characters with artificial intelligence and placed them in the most vital part of the museum. The audience can interact with Akif by pressing a button. Mehmet Akif Ersoy does not have a previous voice recording. We made a voice analysis suitable for his character to create his voice. He answers every question asked. He has a process of continuous learning. Due to the character of Akif, he does not express opinions on sensitive issues that may upset people today. He tries to give more rounded and political answers. This is a behavior that suits both our university and Akif's identity. These student friends especially designed it. However, they express questions about his life and works in a very clear and transparent manner."

The Project Includes a Program that Can Answer Questions with Metahuman Technology and Artificial Intelligence Support

Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Dalgar, the Rector of MAKÜ, stated that the project once again demonstrates the university's pioneering position in scientific and technological research and said, "We are doing many works to keep the memories of Mehmet Akif Ersoy alive and to represent his views, thoughts, and the values he represents to new generations. We have created a museum at the entrance of the university rectorate that guests can visit. Here, we exhibit all the works and statements that stand out throughout Mehmet Akif Ersoy's life. A program was developed with the metahuman character using today's technology, where visitors can ask questions and get answers from Ersoy. This study is welcomed with interest by both our students and visiting guests. I think this study is a good gain for both our university and a gain worthy of the name Mehmet Akif Ersoy. The study includes a program that can answer questions with artificial intelligence support by creating a character resembling Akif with metahuman technology. All the works of Mehmet Akif Ersoy and all the documents in the Mehmet Akif Ersoy research center were uploaded to the system. With this technology, it generates information from the uploaded documents and answers. What makes this project meaningful is that our students have created this software, the metahuman character. It is a technology open to development. I thank our students for conducting such a meaningful study."

Later, Rector Dalgar asked questions to Mehmet Akif Ersoy created with artificial intelligence model.

You can visit the artificial intelligence modeled Mehmet Akif Ersoy at the museum located on the entrance floor of the rectorate and ask your questions of interest.