Researchers in Israel are employing artificial intelligence (AI) to achieve a feat beyond human capability: identifying hundreds of thousands of Jewish individuals whose names are absent from official memorials nearly 80 years after their deaths in the Holocaust.
Ahead of Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day, observed on May 6 this year, staff at the Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Centre in Jerusalem informed Reuters of their intensified efforts to gather information on both known and unknown victims. To aid in this endeavor, they have developed AI-powered software. During World War II, more than six million Jews were killed by the Nazis. While volunteers have managed to document 4.9 million individuals through extensive searches of statements, documents, film footage, cemeteries, and other records, many victims still lack recognition in historical records. Esther Fuxbrumer, head of software development at Yad Vashem, highlighted the significant gaps in their current database of nine million record
Currently undergoing testing, the AI has demonstrated impressive capabilities
Fuxbrumer commented on the challenges faced by volunteers, stating, “they just took people, shot them, and covered them in a pit. And there was no one left to tell about them.”
“It’s very hard for a human being to do it – just to go over everything and not miss any details,” she said.
She emphasized the difficulty for humans to meticulously review vast amounts of data without missing crucial details. The volunteers also encounter the daunting task of linking individuals to specific dates, family members, and other information while identifying and resolving duplicate records and discrepancies.
To alleviate these challenges, researchers have developed an AI system. In development for the past two years, the system can process records in multiple languages, including English, Hebrew, German, and Russian.
Currently undergoing testing, the AI has demonstrated impressive capabilities. Fuxbrumer noted, “That technology works very fast. It takes a few hours to go over hundreds of testimonies, and it’s very exact the results.”
She added that from each testimony, the AI could extract between six and seven names with comprehensive details, with around 90% being previously unknown names. In initial trials, the researchers tested the AI on 400 of the 30,000 testimonies available. The system has already identified 1,500 new names, with many more expected as it is applied to all 30,000 testimonies. The next phase will focus on analyzing diaries. “We believe that this way we’ll be able to bring to light many stories of victims, including young children, whose stories were previously unknown,” stated Fuxbrumer.