Holocaust Survivors use AI to Generate ‘Photos’ of Their Memories

Holocaust survivors are using artificial intelligence (AI) to generate “photos” of their memories and keep their stories alive.

With most Holocaust survivors now in their 80s and 90s, there may soon be no one left to offer firsthand accounts of their experiences during World War II.

So, Chasdei Naomi, a non-profit organization that helps Holocaust survivors, is using AI technology to preserve their memories for future generations.

Reuters reports that a group of 19 Holocaust survivors has retold their stories in the form of AI-generated photos as part of the initiative.

The images were showcased on International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Friday as part of the first-ever AI exhibition in Israel.

“Each one of them has a unique story and they have been through terrifying stuff,” Sol Leffler, who helps the survivors use the AI software, tells Reuters.

“They are still alive today, they are still functioning and it’s incredible to hear and to see it and basically to generate it into photos. I feel this our national duty to remember and not forget.”

Sitting alongside the survivors as they retell their stories, Leffler inputs the elements of their first accounts into the text-to-image generator, Midjourney.

Through the verbal retelling of specific moments, Leffler was able to create visuals to match the emotions and scenery remembered by the survivors.

86-year-old Holocaust survivor Dov Sagaju says it was powerful to see his memories transformed into photos with AI technology.

“I felt shivers,” he tells Reuters. “I couldn’t grasp that it was me. It was hard for me to process this picture.”

Meanwhile, 82-year-old Raissa Gurewitsch tells Leffler how 21 of her relatives were killed in the Holocaust — including her three sisters and brother.

Today, Gurewitsch is only left with a pink, blood-stained that was worn by her brother which she retrieved after his murder.

Leffler was able to generate four images of a young child wearing the same pink coat and Gurewitsch was able to choose the picture that had the closest resemblance to her brother.

PetaPixel previously reported on an engineer who created software that uses AI to identify anonymous Holocaust victims in World War II photos.

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