What is the Future of the Past? Assessing the Role of AI in Holocaust Remembrance
Mykhola Makhotykh (Bern)
- Beginning:
- Thursday, 14 January 2027 14:15
Abstract:
The advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) presents many opportunities but also challenges for educating and remembering about the past. Memories of mass atrocities, such as the Holocaust, constitute a special case in this context, both due to their extreme sensitivity, which is difficult to combine with the probabilistic logic of AI models, and the increasing abuse of technology for facilitating these memories' distortion and instrumentalization. In my talk, I will discuss how we can study different dimensions of the complex relationship between technology and Holocaust memory - ranging from the assessment of AI models' performance regarding representing the past to the empirical evaluation of the impact of the use of AI on attitudes towards the Holocaust - and what its possible implications are for the future of Holocaust remembrance.
Mykhola Makhotykh:
He is an Alfred Landecker lecturer at the Institute of Communication and Media Science, where he studies the impact of algorithmic systems and AI on Holocaust memory transmission. In his research, Mykola focuses on politics- and history-centered information behavior in online environments and how it is affected by the information retrieval systems, such as search engines and recommender systems. For this aim, he combines traditional social science methods (e.g., content analysis and focus groups) with novel computational approaches (e.g., deep learning and agent-based testing). His other research interests include trauma and memory studies, armed conflict reporting, disinformation and computational propaganda research, cybersecurity and critical security studies, and bias in information retrieval systems.
Cooperation:
Lehrstuhl für Slavische Literatur und Kultur, Leibniz ScienceCampus Europe and America in the Modern World
Venue:
GS OSESUR, Landshuter Straße 4, 93047 Regensburg, Room 017 (ground floor)