Holocaust survivors have entrusted their memories, harrowing accounts of the Nazi genocide to artificial intelligence (AI) so that the generations to come do not forget the horror which claimed the lives of six million Jews. 

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A groundbreaking AI project at the Museum of Jewish Heritage (MJH) in New York will allow visitors to interact with virtual likenesses of 10 Holocaust survivors who have shared their testimonies on life before, during, and after the Holocaust.

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How does the AI memory bank work?

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The AI-based initiative uses pre-recorded interviews to create interactive dialogues with the Holocaust survivors' virtual likenesses. AI will interpret questions from visitors and select relevant responses from a fixed set of pre-recorded answers, allowing participants to engage with the survivors’ stories as if in real time. 

Toby Levy, born in 1933 in what is now Ukraine, is one of the participants. In a conversation with AFP, she said "Somebody will survive because we have to tell the world what happened -- and maybe it's us."

Reflecting on her father's words she added, "I remembered (my father's) words, 'you will be the one who will have to tell the world.' Seventy-five years later, here I am in the United States." 

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Levy's digital likeness was demonstrated at the museum, located near Ellis Island, a historic gateway for Holocaust survivors arriving in the United States.

Preserving memory amid rising hate, anti-semitism

The project comes at a time when Holocaust denial and anti-Semitic incidents are rising globally. On the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz, more than 200 survivors gathered to commemorate the event and condemn the resurgence of anti-Semitic hatred. 

For Alice Ginsburg, who was deported to Auschwitz in 1944 and nearly died from forced labour and starvation, the project is deeply personal. "It's important to publicize it so it should never happen again," Ginsburg told AFP.

"This is man's inhumanity to man," she added.

Like Ginsburg, fellow survivor Jerry Lindenstraus hopes the initiative will combat ignorance and denial. "I give talks here to high school students who have no idea what happened," he said.

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Who developed the AI-based Holocaust project?

Developed in collaboration with the University of Southern California Libraries, the AI-powered initiative offers a timeless way to preserve survivors' testimonies. Mike Jones, the brain behind the project, believes the memories are not just historical but perpetually relevant. "There's a timelessness that it's always going to be important and urgent until the day that there's simply just peace on Earth," he remarked.

(With inputs from agencies)