Author
Mykola Makhortykh
Abstract
The project examines the implications of the growing use of algorithmic systems for storing, retrieving, and filtering Holocaust-related content by research institutions (e.g., Yad Vashem) and online platforms (e.g., Google and YouTube). Ranging from visual archive content retrieval mechanisms to platform recommendation systems to web search engines, these systems are integral for informing societies and individuals about the Holocaust. By offering new opportunities for Holocaust memory transmission, algorithmic systems can facilitate formation of cosmopolitan memory of past atrocities that is important for countering the rise of antisemitism and right-wing populism that threatens the future of united and peaceful Europe. However, the deployment of algorithms is associated with multiple technical and ethical challenges as well as threats, such as cyberattacks aiming to undermine system availability and integrity. Using a mixed-method approach, the project aims to provide a comprehensive assessment of the algorithmic turn in Holocaust memory transmission by scrutinizing challenges, opportunities, and threats associated with it. To do so, it combines a broad range of methods coming from humanities (historical analysis, content analysis), social sciences (interviews), social and technology studies (infrastructure analysis), computer science (automated and manual algorithmic auditing), and cybersecurity (dark web monitoring and risk assessment).
Duration
2022 – 2026
Keywords
Holocaust, algorithms, web search, recommendation systems, platforms, dark web
Publications
AI and the Holocaust: rewriting history? The impact of artificial intelligence on understanding the Holocaust. 2024. UNESCO.
Bultmann, Daniel, Mykola Makhortykh, David Simon, Roberto Ulloa, und Eve M. Zucker. 2022. Digital Archive of Memorialization of Mass Atrocities (DAMMA) Workshop Whitepaper. University of Bern.
Makhortykh, Mykola. 2023. „No AI After Auschwitz? Bridging AI and Memory Ethics in the Context of Information Retrieval of Genocide-Related Information“. In Ethics in Artificial Intelligence: Bias, Fairness and Beyond, Studies in Computational Intelligence, hrsg. Animesh Mukherjee, Juhi Kulshrestha, Abhijnan Chakraborty, und Srijan Kumar. Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore, 71–83.
Makhortykh, Mykola. 2023. „Open Forum: Possibilities and Risks of Artificial Intelligence for Holocaust Memory“. Eastern European Holocaust Studies 1(2): 347–48.
Makhortykh, Mykola. 2023. „The User Is Dead, Long Live the Platform? Problematising the User-Centric Focus of (Digital) Memory Studies“. Memory Studies 16(6): 1500–1512.
Makhortykh, Mykola. 2024. „Shall the Robots Remember? Conceptualising the Role of Non-Human Agents in Digital Memory Communication“. Memory, Mind & Media 3: e6.
Makhortykh, Mykola, und Anna Menyhért. 2023. „Keeping the Past from Freezing: Augmented Reality and Memories in the Public Space“. In De-Commemoration, hrsg. Sarah Gensburger und Jenny Wüstenberg. Berghahn Books, 355–66.
Makhortykh, Mykola, Aleksandra Urman, Roberto Ulloa, und Juhi Kulshrestha. 2023. „Can an algorithm remember the Holocaust? Comparative algorithm audit of Holocaust-related information on search engines“. In Digital Memory, hrsg. Iris Groschek und Habbo Knoch. Wallstein Verlag, 79–93.
Makhortykh, Mykola, Aleksandra Urman, Roberto Ulloa, Marya Sydorova, und Juhi Kulshrestha. 2024. „Does it get better with time? Web search consistency and relevance in the visual representation of the Holocaust“. In Connected Histories, hrsg. Eva Pfanzelter, Dirk Rupnow, Éva Kovács, und Marianne Windsperger. De Gruyter, 13–32.
Makhortykh, Mykola, Victoria Vziatysheva, und Maryna Sydorova. 2023. „Generative AI and Contestation and Instrumentalization of Memory About the Holocaust in Ukraine“. Eastern European Holocaust Studies 1(2): 349–55.
Makhortykh, Mykola, Eve M. Zucker, David J. Simon, Daniel Bultmann, und Roberto Ulloa. 2023. „Shall Androids Dream of Genocides? How Generative AI Can Change the Future of Memorialization of Mass Atrocities“. Discover Artificial Intelligence 3(1): 28.
Urman, Aleksandra, Mykola Makhortykh, Roberto Ulloa, Maryna Sydorova, und Juhi Kulshrestha. 2023. „Constants and Variables: How Does the Visual Representation of the Holocaust by AI Change Over Time“. Eastern European Holocaust Studies 1(2): 365–71.
Walden, Victoria Grace, und Mykola Makhortykh. 2024. „#Hashtag Commemoration: A Comparison of Public Engagement with Commemoration Events for Neuengamme, Srebrenica, and Beau Bassin During Covid-19 Lockdowns“. In The COVID-19 Pandemic and Memory, Palgrave Macmillan Memory Studies, hrsg. Orli Fridman und Sarah Gensburger. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 245–66.
Walden, Victoria Grace, und Kate Marrison. 2023. Recommendations for Digitally Recording, Recirculating and Remixing Holocaust Testimony. REFRAME.
Walden, Victoria Grace, und Kate Marrison. 2023. Recommendations for Digitising Material Evidence of the Holocaust. REFRAME.
Walden, Victoria Grace, und Kate Marrison. 2023. Recommendations for using Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for Holocaust Memory and Education. REFRAME.
Walden, Victoria Grace, und Kate Marrison. 2023. Recommendations for using Social Media for Holocaust Memory and Education. REFRAME.
Walden, Victoria Grace, und Kate Marrison. 2024. Recommendations for Gaming and Play in Holocaust Memory and Education. University of Sussex.
Walden, Victoria Grace, und Kate Marrison. 2024. Recommendations for Virtualising Holocaust Memoryscapes. Sussex. University of Sussex.
Zucker, Eve M., Mykola Makhortykh, Roberto Ulloa, Daniel Bultmann, und David J. Simon. 2023. „AI and Archives: How Can Technology Help Preserve Holocaust Heritage Under the Risk of Disappearance?“ Eastern European Holocaust Studies 1(2): 357–63.
Zucker, Eve M, Roberto Ulloa, David J Simon, Mykola Makhortykh, und Daniel Bultmann. „White Paper on Archiving Holocaust Digital Memorialization: The Lublin District Camps“.
