Emerging Technologies and the Advent of the Holocaust “Hologram”

Abstract

Introduced in 2015, hologram-like recordings acquaint audiences with Holocaust survivors, survivors who soon no longer will be with us. Housed at various sites in the United States, from the United Nations to the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center (IHME/Illionis), this emerging technology of Holocaust survivor “holograms” ensures survivors’ histories will “live.” What makes these recordings of Holocaust survivors innovative is that they are interactive. In response to visitors’ queries, the recordings are prepared to answer 1,000 possible questions. In addition, over time, the survivor recordings refine “their” answers to those questions by learning to better understand what is being asked and providing the best answer in their repository. The analysis conducted and conclusions reached in this paper are guided by the research question: What are the ethical concerns related to the development of this technology and the relationships it engenders? To that end, this paper interrogates the role played by the visitors who engage with the recordings and help to determine, via algorithms, the narratives the recordings tell; the importance of the human and ethical alliance created between the interlocutors who ask and the recordings that respond; and, lastly, the significance of these recordings to the survivors themselves. In order to conduct this research, the author conducted interviews and consulted first-hand accounts from the creators of these survivor recordings, the museum staff who have introduced visitors to the recordings, and the survivors themselves offered in news stories, publicity announcements, conference proceedings, and journal articles.