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Why We Shouldn’t Be Surprised about #AI #Auschwitz, and What We Can Do About It
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Why We Shouldn’t Be Surprised about #AI #Auschwitz, and What We Can Do About It

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Why We Shouldn’t Be Surprised about #AI #Auschwitz, and What We Can Do About It

By Prof. Victoria Grace Richardson-Walden Last week the BBC reported on spammers sharing ‘AI slop’ images of Auschwitz for profit. In this week’s blog, we respond to their article, reflecting on our years of research into Holocaust memory and AI. On Friday 29th August, the BBC published an article with the headline: ‘BBC reveals web of spammers profiting from AI Holocaust images.’ Whilst this might seem shocking, it shouldn’t be, and far from ‘spamming’, which can be considered a flippant action, the individuals involved in these profit-making schemes are using social media in conscious and sophisticated ways – as its logics intend it to be used. This should make us stop and ask: are platforms like Facebook good for Holocaust memory? On one hand, it would be easy (especially in the current political climate) to say, ‘not really’. On the other hand, if Holocaust museums and educational organisations want their authority to remain recognised widely, they need to be not only be present on these sites but enhance their visibility. As our previous research has argued (Walden 2021), professional Holocaust organisations need to adopt the strategies of apparent ‘bad actors’ if they want their messages to circulate as much as [...]

By Victoria Grace Walden|2025-09-02T13:32:24+01:002 September 2025|

Behind the Scenes at the Lab: What’s in the Works?
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Behind the Scenes at the Lab: What’s in the Works?

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Behind the Scenes at the Lab: What’s in the Works?

By Mel Poluck Take a look at what the Lab has been working on over the last few months and what is coming up next. This spring, since our last quarterly round-up, the whole team has been mainly focused on preparing and running our first major international event and developing two new core resources: the Digital Memory Database and Digital Memory Dialogues, as well as continuing our mission to realign the field of digital Holocaust memory studies and ensure Holocaust memory is sustainable in the digital age. April In the run-up to the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the last Nazi-run concentration camps, including Bergen-Belsen, we launched a social media campaign to showcase our nine official partners’ Holocaust memory digital projects. This culminated in the launch of our Digital Holocaust Memory Map, developed as part of the broader work we’re doing to develop a global, perpetual ‘living database-archive’ of digital Holocaust memory projects which seeks to collect historical and contemporary digital Holocaust memory practice. The platform will serve to : Allow practitioners in Holocaust museums, memorial sites, libraries and educational organisations to learn from each other’s experiences and save on ‘reinventing the wheel’ each time a new digital endeavour [...]

By Mel Poluck|2025-11-10T14:59:59+00:0031 July 2025|

10 key implications for AI in Holocaust memory and education
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10 key implications for AI in Holocaust memory and education

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10 key implications for AI in Holocaust memory and education

by Victoria Grace Richardson-Walden Our Lab Director has recently been engaging with delegates of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance about AI and Holocaust memory, tackling topics including mass digitisation of archival and historical material and the risks of distortion and disinformation. In this week’s blog she discusses what emerged from recent events organised by the IHRA, including our new policy briefing. I have had the pleasure to engage with the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (the IHRA) on two occasions in the last few weeks because under their UK Presidency in 2024, it has decided to focus on the significance of AI for Holocaust memory and education. Firstly, I spoke at an online AI workshop with approximately 70 people, organised by the IHRA's Education Working Group. Then, this past weekend, I presented the opening paper at the conference ‘AI in the Holocaust Education, Research and Remembrance Sector’ at Lancaster House, London. My role at these events was really to set the scene for those who are policymakers and Holocaust education and history experts, but less savvy about emerging digital technologies. At the core of my presentations was the question: what are the implications of AI for Holocaust memory and education in [...]

By Victoria Grace Walden|2024-12-05T17:16:20+00:005 December 2024|

AI, Holocaust Distortion and Education
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AI, Holocaust Distortion and Education

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AI, Holocaust Distortion and Education

By Prof Victoria Grace Richardson-Walden At a conference in Bucharest last week, our Lab Director Prof Victoria Grace Richardson-Walden presented our position on the extent to which we should be engaging with AI for the sake of Holocaust education. I was invited by the US State Department to contribute to a panel called ‘Holocaust Denial and Distortion – New Challenges’, which focused on AI. I wanted to use the opportunity to emphasise the need for more research-informed engagement in how the Holocaust museum and education sector, and policymakers, deal with AI (and indeed digital media more generally). I was joined on the panel by Historian Jason Steinhauer, Professor of International Law Aleksandra Gliszczyńska-Grabias, and Jordana Cutler from Meta, and it was chaired by Ellen Germain, US Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues (all pictured in our banner image). Professor Victoria Grace Richardson-Walden speaking on the panel. Key takeaways are: What are we using AI for? We need to ask ourselves why we want to engage with AI? The question should not simply be ‘what is AI good for in the context of Holocaust memory and education?’ but rather ‘What do we want to achieve in Holocaust memory and education, and [...]

By Victoria Grace Walden|2024-11-11T14:38:17+00:007 November 2024|