AI helps to immortalise Holocaust survivors | BBC News

Summary

This segment of 'AI Decoded' explores the innovative use of artificial intelligence and virtual reality in education to preserve Holocaust survivors' testimonies. It discusses the potential of AI to transform history lessons and the ethical concerns surrounding its use in storytelling, exemplified by the controversy over a film script entirely generated by AI, which sparked debate in the film industry.

Takeaways

• 😀 The segment 'AI Decoded' explores the intersection of artificial intelligence with various aspects of society, including education and the film industry.
• 🌐 A new educational program uses AI and virtual reality to preserve and share the testimonies of Holocaust survivors, aiming to future-proof these accounts.
• 📰 The Guardian newspaper features an article on the educational program, highlighting the use of technology to engage students in a more interactive and emotional learning experience.
• ⚠️ The Times of Israel reports a warning from the United Nations about the potential for AI to facilitate the spread of Holocaust denial and misinformation online.
• 🎓 Priya Lani, CEO of Century Tech, discusses her experience with the educational program in a South London school, emphasizing the importance of preserving historical truth.
• 🤖 The AI technology used in the educational program matches students' questions with pre-recorded answers from Holocaust survivors, ensuring authenticity and avoiding fabrication.
• 🎥 Swiss filmmaker Peter Lisi created a film entirely written by AI, sparking controversy and discussions about the role of AI in creative processes.
• 📽️ The film 'The Last Screenwriter' was set to premiere at the Prince Charles Cinema in London but was canceled due to audience concerns about AI replacing human writers.
• 💡 The film's director, Peter Lisi, believes that exploring AI's capabilities in scriptwriting is important to understand its potential impact on the industry and society.
• 🚫 There has been resistance to the film from insurers and financiers, reflecting uncertainty and apprehension about the implications of AI in creative fields.
• 🔮 Looking to the future, there is a mix of excitement and concern about AI's role in creative industries, with potential implications for jobs and the nature of artistic expression.

Q & A

What is the purpose of the educational program using AI and virtual reality mentioned in the script?

The educational program aims to future-proof the testimonies of Holocaust survivors by using AI and virtual reality to provide an interactive and immersive learning experience about the Holocaust, preserving the truth and history for future generations.

How does the AI technology work in the context of the Holocaust survivor testimonies?

The AI technology matches the students' questions, asked through speech-to-text, with pre-recorded answers from Holocaust survivors, creating an interactive testimony experience where students can 'converse' with the survivors.

What was the reaction of the audience to the film 'The Last Screenwriter' written by AI?

The film faced controversy, with the premiere at the Prince Charles Cinema in London being canceled at the last minute due to audience concerns about the use of AI in place of a human writer.

What concerns were raised by the actors and writers' strike last year regarding AI in the film industry?

The strike was sparked by concerns that AI could take away jobs, as it was being used to analyze scripts and predict box office success, which could potentially diminish the need for human writers and actors.

Why did Swiss filmmaker Peter Lisi decide to create a film written entirely by AI?

Peter Lisi wanted to test the capabilities of AI in writing a screenplay and to understand how good AI could be in this creative process, despite the concerns about job displacement in the industry.

What challenges did Peter Lisi face in producing the film 'The Last Screenwriter'?

Peter Lisi faced challenges such as difficulty in getting insurance for the film and resistance from film finance executives due to the controversial nature of using AI in place of a human writer.

How does the AI-generated film script differ from traditional screenplay writing?

The AI-generated script is entirely composed by an AI system based on a short prompt, without any human input or direction, which raises questions about the originality and authenticity of the creative process.

What is the main argument against using AI in creative fields like screenwriting?

The main argument is that AI lacks the human element, such as emotions and personal experiences, which are integral to creating relatable and authentic stories.

What is the potential impact of AI on the future of screenwriting and the film industry?

The potential impact includes the possibility of AI taking over certain creative tasks, leading to job displacement for human writers and a shift in the way stories are created and told.

How does Manfred Goldberg, a Holocaust survivor featured in the script, feel about the use of AI technology in preserving his testimony?

Manfred Goldberg believes that AI technology can be an effective educational tool, allowing his testimony to be heard in a first-person perspective and helping to preserve the truth about the Holocaust.

What is the role of the AI in the virtual reality platform featuring Holocaust survivors?

The AI's role is to facilitate the interaction between the students and the pre-recorded testimonies of Holocaust survivors, ensuring that the students receive accurate and genuine responses to their questions.

Outlines

00:00

📚 AI and VR in Holocaust Education

This paragraph introduces a segment on AI Decoded, a weekly show exploring AI stories. The focus is on an educational program using AI and VR to preserve Holocaust survivors' testimonies. Manfred Goldberg, a survivor featured in the Guardian article, is highlighted. The program aims to future-proof these testimonies against the rise of Holocaust denial facilitated by AI, as warned by UNESCO. Priya Lani, CEO of Century Tech, discusses the impact of this technology on history education, emphasizing its potential to change how history is taught and preserve the truth of historical events.

05:01

🗣️ Preserving Testimonies with AI and VR

The segment delves into the use of AI and VR in preserving the testimonies of Holocaust survivors. Manfred Goldberg shares his experience in the concentration camps, emphasizing the harsh conditions and the emotional toll. The technology allows students to interact with his testimony, providing a more personal and impactful learning experience than textbooks. Manfred's story, including a poignant moment with his mother, is used to illustrate the power of this technology in education and the importance of maintaining the authenticity of historical accounts.

10:03

🎬 AI in Screenwriting: Controversy and Potential

This paragraph discusses the impact of AI on the film industry, particularly in screenwriting. The controversy arises from the use of AI-generated scripts, which some fear could replace human writers. Swiss filmmaker Peter Lisi's film, 'The Last Screenwriter,' written entirely by AI, faced criticism and had its premiere at the Prince Charles Cinema in London canceled. The film's trailer is presented, and Lisi joins the discussion to talk about the challenges and potential of AI in screenwriting, including the moral and ethical considerations.

15:04

🤖 Testing AI's Ability in Screenwriting

Peter Lisi, a screenwriter and filmmaker, shares his experience with using AI to write a film script. He explains his motivation for testing AI's capabilities in screenwriting and the challenges he faced, such as obtaining insurance and finance due to the taboo nature of the project. Lisi discusses the quality of the script produced by AI, expressing both surprise and concern about its potential to replace human writers. He emphasizes the importance of having an open conversation about AI's role in the film industry.

20:07

🚫 AI and the Future of Screenwriting

In this final paragraph, Lisi reflects on the implications of AI in screenwriting. He acknowledges the potential of AI to displace human screenwriters and expresses his own fears about job security. Despite the controversy and backlash, Lisi believes that AI is here to stay and that the industry must adapt. He also discusses the unexpected publicity from the canceled premiere, which has helped to bring attention to the film and the broader conversation about AI's role in creative processes.

Keywords

💡Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial Intelligence refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think like humans and mimic their actions. In the context of the video, AI is being used in educational programs to preserve the testimonies of Holocaust survivors and in the film industry to write screenplays. The video discusses the potential of AI to revolutionize education and storytelling, while also raising concerns about its impact on jobs and the authenticity of historical narratives.

💡Virtual Reality (VR)

Virtual Reality is a computer-generated environment that simulates a realistic setting and can be interacted with by a person. The script mentions the use of VR in conjunction with AI to create an immersive educational experience where students can interact with the testimonies of Holocaust survivors, bringing history to life in a more personal and impactful way.

💡Holocaust Survivors

Holocaust Survivors are individuals who lived

Highlights

A new educational program uses AI and VR to preserve Holocaust survivors' testimonies, ensuring their stories remain accessible to future generations.

The Guardian features a project that utilizes AI to future-proof Holocaust survivors' testimonies, providing a unique educational experience.

AI Decoded interviews Manfred Goldberg, a Holocaust survivor whose testimony is featured in the educational program.

UNESCO warns that AI development could lead to increased Holocaust denial, with false claims spreading online.

Priya Lani, CEO of Century Tech, discusses the use of AI in education to experience testimonies of Holocaust survivors.

Students in South London experienced Holocaust survivors' testimonies through AI and VR, offering a new perspective on history lessons.

Testimony 360 allows students to engage with interactive recordings of Holocaust survivors, asking questions and receiving real answers.

Manfred Goldberg's experiences in concentration camps are shared through AI-edited interactive testimonies, providing a first-person account of the Holocaust.

Students find the AI and VR experience more impactful and emotional than learning from textbooks, allowing them to connect with survivors' stories.

The program aims to preserve Holocaust history as eyewitnesses age and are unable to share their stories in person.

Manfred Goldberg emphasizes the importance of remembering the Holocaust and the dangers of propaganda and social media misinformation.

AI is used to match students' questions with pre-recorded answers from Holocaust survivors, ensuring the accuracy and authenticity of their testimonies.

The film industry faces controversy with the use of AI-generated scripts, raising concerns about job displacement for human writers.

Swiss filmmaker Peter Lisi creates a film written entirely by AI, sparking debate about the role of AI in creative writing.

The premiere of 'The Last Screenwriter,' an AI-written film, was canceled due to audience concerns about AI replacing human writers.

Peter Lisi discusses the potential of AI in scriptwriting and the ethical considerations of using AI over human writers.

AI's ability to generate scripts raises questions about the future of screenwriting and the role of human creativity in the film industry.

Lisi's experiment with AI in filmmaking highlights the need for a constructive dialogue about the integration of AI in creative processes.

Transcripts

right you are watching the context it's

time for our weekly segment AI

[Music]

decoded welcome to Aid decoded time of

the week when we look in depth at some

of the most eye-catching stories in the

world of artificial intelligence we're

going to start with the Guardian

newspaper a new educational program

using artificial intelligence and

virtual reality to Future proof the

testimonies of Holocaust Survivors AI

decoded met holoc course Survivor

Manfred Goldberg who's featured here in

the article and we'll be showing that in

just a

moment meanwhile The Times of Israel

carries a warning from the United

Nations that development in artificial

intelligence could lead to a surge in

Holocaust denial a report published this

week by UNESCO says AI could result in

false and misleading claims about the

Holocaust spreading

online well with me is our regular AI

contributor Priya Lani CEO of I powered

education company Century Tech priia

great to see you how are you see Lis

very well thank you right um you've been

busy tell us what you've been doing so I

visited a school in South London and we

had a group of students in the classroom

and they experienced what we're just

about to see so they experienced the

testimony of Holocaust Survivors um and

they were leveraging artificial

intelligence in virtual reality to

experience this what's most interesting

about this story leis is yes it's a

story of about using AI in education in

schools and potentially changing the

delivery of History lessons but it's

also very much a story about preserving

the truth when it comes to history so I

can't wait for you to see it well it

seems like an incredible opportunity to

use this technology for an incredible

reason let's take a look at your report

now the first time I arrived in Strut I

was 14 years old as the train

stopped the doors to our wagons were

unlocked and opened from the outside we

had no idea where we had been taken and

guards began yelling at us come on

quickly jump run run no time

faster I'm at a school in South London

and today we're witnessing history

education being completely

revolutionized by artificial

intelligence and virtual reality

students are not only learning about the

Holocaust by reading their textbooks but

they're having lifelike conversations

through the testimony of Holocaust

Survivors so let's have a look and see

how it's impacting their

education Part One tesy 360 you are

going to have the chance to engage with

an interactive recording of a holocaust

Survivor Manfred Goldberg was filmed

over five days in

2021 and he was asked over a thousand

questions all of his responses to those

questions were paired with potential

questions that young people could ask

and that's edited into what we call an

interactive testimony headphones on off

you

go what happened to your brother what

were the C like Manfred can you describe

the Concentration Camp the work entailed

working outside in out in the open not

in the factory and in Winter it was very

very difficult

and S of brutally cruel because we were

dressed in quite thin garments which had

been handed to handed to us and the

temperature could be well below zero

sometimes as low as minus5 in winter

with snow and ice on the

ground

and I sometimes am not certain which was

harder to Bear the cold or the

hunger you suffered from both so Brianna

how has being able to speak to Manfred

in this way and learning in this way

impact is your learning about the

Holocaust compared to learning from a

textbook so testimony 360 has um given

students like the chance to see from a

survivor's actual point of view so it's

not like in a textbook where you're just

reading and you're not really like

understanding but through this way you

can ask questions you can be interactive

with the survival and he's given us real

answers because it's his actual like

point of view on what he's gone through

and I feel like it's more emotional as

well because you can really like connect

with him and see where he's coming from

rather than like I said just reading

through and not really understanding

anything like would you like all of your

history lessons to be taught this way

yes okay let's let's get into our

headsets and then get into our first

virtual

environment I was unlucky and had to

share a bunk bed with one other person

these beds were quite narrow and uh two

people sharing a bed was not easy what

also didn't help that we were all

infested with Vermin and um it was not

really possible to get a night's rest

what are you hoping that the impact of

this program will be we're at a critical

juncture where the Holocaust is moving

from living history to just history our

precious eyewitnesses aren't able to

share their stories in schools across

the country and those that are are

becoming frailer they can't do this

forever when we see still the Holocaust

being denied distorted and challenged

it's our mission and our duty to ensure

the Holocaust is remembered and kept

relevant today so Manfred when I

experienced the virtual reality platform

I was really drawn to the story where

you spoke about how you went as close to

the fence as possible in stut off to the

female camp and you actually heard your

mother's words what did she say to you

and how did it make you feel neither of

us knew that the other was still alive

because life was like a lottery no one

knew any morning but they would still be

alive that evening

so catching just a glimpse across that

barbed wire of each other was the most

comforting thing imaginable at the

time the ladies Camp was adjoining the

men's Camp it was separated by a long

high bared wire fence since we were not

working during the day I frequently went

as close was

permitted to that camp in the hope that

I might catch a glimpse of my mother

often we couldn't get close enough to

the fence to exchange any words because

there happened to be um a guard

Tower right close to the dividing fence

with an armed guard on top and we were

not allowed to approach the fence so if

I came too close to the fence he would y

yell and point his gun at me so I had to

move back fairly smartly to stop him

shooting at

me on one occasion the guard did not

spot me fairly close to that division

fence and I could actually hear a

sentence my mother shouted at

me don't lose hope this will end we will

be together again I remember my mother

on occasion I saying to me be a good boy

whatever you're asked to do do it to the

best of your ability don't try to be a

hero and I took that aboard and did try

it it

worked as you can see I survived say

Manfred how do you feel about the use of

artificial intelligence technology on

this platform over the years I had

become absolutely convinced by having

been told this many many times by

youngsters that by

far really by by by a mile um the most

effective um educational process for

them was listening to the testimony of a

Survivor who could speak in the first

person I was there it happened to me one

thing the Holocaust can achieve is to

make people understand what brutality

and

unequaled um cruelty and sadism can be

generated by

unlimited um

propaganda and

brainwashing in today's climate with the

power of the social websites it can

happen in any direction and what took

the Nazis years if not decades to

achieve brainwashing a whole

population these social websites can do

it in a tiny fraction of that time and

that is a distinct danger the Nazis had

a very very competent propaganda

Minister and he was a clever man he said

any lie no matter how farfetched or how

Preposterous how unbelievable it is will

eventually be accepted as truth if it's

repeated often enough and loudly enough

and the social websites are the perfect

realization or of that sentence and

people have to become aware of it at the

moment people are not I

believe priia just extraordinary to hear

those stories from him and him talking

about it what was the experience like of

actually using the AI and what is going

on with the AI how is it actually

actually working yeah it's a really good

question because actually what they've

done is when you saw Manfred sitting in

the chair the digital Manfred and the

students speaking to Manfred that's him

okay that's real footage of him it's his

real answer what it isn't is a large

language model that you're asking a

question to and then it's essentially

coming up with its own answer so it's

real Manfred real answers they've used

the AI to match the question to the

answer so what they have Manford what

he's done is recording Ed about a

thousand answers and the Holocaust

Survivors that are part of this project

have each recorded about a thousand

answers so the AI is there to match the

student's question right take speech to

text match the text to the answer and

then they see the real Survivor and

again it's important because we've seen

just today that news article that was

saying that actually if you ask large

language models like a chatbot it could

actually run away with itself and start

to fabricate fabricate answers and come

up with um you know well not facts

exactly you know untruths and so it's

really really important to them it's a

true story that lives on it's protecting

history and then it allows sort to have

that conversation with the AI um to

preserve that history and to learn from

it a remarkable idea PR thank you very

much for that well coming up chat GPT

generated film script that's causing

real drama for the movie industry this

my friend is the

future hello Jack I am your new

screenwriting

assistant learns from every screenplay

and

adapts it's going to change the way we

work and you really think it can stand

up to we'll be speaking to the director

behind this controversial project just a

few

moments around the world across the UK

this is BBC News this is BBC News

welcome back to AI decoded previously on

this program we've looked at the impact

art icial intelligence is having on the

film industry last year us actors and

writers went on strike sparked by in

part concerns AI will take away jobs

while some filmmakers are actively

exploring now its creative possibilities

and the implications among them is Swiss

filmmaker Peter Lisi whose latest

feature the last screenwriter was

written entirely by chat

GPT Prince Charles Cinema in London was

due to hold the Premier but pulled the

screening at the last minute following

complaints in a statement this is my

highlighted concerns held by many of its

audience about the use of AI in place of

a writer which they say speaks to a

wider issue within the

industry so let's pick through this prer

um a lot of thorny I suppose moral

issues here but just talk us through

what's going on yeah so you've got um a

screenwriter now he's a successful

screenwriter so he's actually produced

films that have done very very well um

in Switzerland I think and he decided to

create a film uh and he wanted to test

how good is AI given that we saw the

strikes last year we covered them

extensively particularly on this program

um and he wanted to understand how good

is AI at helping me write a screenplay

so he went about doing that with a short

prompt a very short prompt he then

refined it um and he's produced the film

so I'm really looking forward to seeing

the trailer and Hope reviewing this film

at some point

okay this my friend is the

future hello Jack I am your new

screenwriting

assistant learns from every screenplay

and

adapts it's going to change the way we

work and you really think it can stand

up to a real human

writer how would you start a screenplay

about a screen writer being challenged

by an AI

system it's like having a supercharged

co-writer that never

sleeps that's

um

decent sounds like a screenwriter's

dream

right but it's a machine Jack no

soul how can it possibly replace the

human

element well let's speak to the director

Peter Lisi who joined joins us now from

Zurich thank you for coming on the

program thank you for having me so this

film is quite meta intentionally isn't

it it's written by chat GPT and it's

about chat GPT writing a film we saw the

criticism there from some in the

audiences and that cancellation of that

Premiere in that Cinema were you

expecting this

criticism well I know from the start

that it's a very controversial topic and

taboo but um I thought it's just

important to see like everyone's afraid

that that might steal jobs and being a

screenwriter myself I was also concerned

seeing how good Chad GPT is so I decided

Let's test it let's see how good can a

film be that's written entirely by AI by

chat GPT if a professional team um does

everything else so we just took the

screenplay completely written by AI

every word every plot every character

everything and we made the best movie we

could this is the

result and Peter um production companies

use tools like script book for example

they use natural language processing

artificial intelligence technology to uh

analyze the scripts they predict box

office success depending on which uh

which actors youcast so we've seen AI

being used in the industry before are

you surprised by the the amount of

backlash that you've

received yes well as I said I I knew it

was a taboo topic but yes I think I mean

I think would be good to watch the film

and discuss it I mean that's why we made

the film to start the conversation and

see like okay do we need to be worried

um what's the status quo and yeah let's

talk about it that was really the

the point and I want to say it's like a

nonprofit film we're releasing the movie

for free nobody's earning any money it's

really I say it's it's a film by

filmmakers for filmmakers so I feel like

if people knew more about it and would

just be open for the conversation I

don't think this films the enemy as some

people think it is okay is it any good

is chat gbt any good at

this I think yes it's surprisingly good

um

and that's what's what's worried me and

why I thought I

mean um it could make a whole film and

uh I so so you could be a victim of your

own success here that if you think it is

good that does potentially threaten jobs

and that potentially sides with the side

of your detractors here your critics who

say this was exactly the reason it

shouldn't go ahead

yes but it's not I mean I'm not it's not

my fault that AI exists and we have to

learn to live with it and we have to not

close our eyes and be worried oh my God

it's coming let's just pretend it's not

here no it's here let's take a look what

can it do what can't it do and and yeah

and on that Peter I mean you are um you

know you're a writer so are there any

specific elements of the script where

you thought oh humans would have written

that in a much better way sometimes when

I'm on a chat GPT I look at the sort of

generic text that it gives me and I

think no it's not quite there you know

were there areas that you really wanted

to tweak because because humans are just

better well of course I mean that was

the difficulty because I I really said

the point is not to make the best movie

possible the point is really to make a

movie that was entirely written by AI so

and me being a screenwriter I kept

seeing like ah would do this differently

but I really resisted the temptation to

like add my own input I didn't suggest

any scenes I

didn't make it go in certain directions

which I thought would have made the

movie better I really said okay this is

what CH GPT wrote this is what we'll put

in the movie now P I'm sorry yeah sorry

P say you had some trouble with uh

insurance so getting insurance for the

film and also some further Finance so

what what were the key reasons why the

insurers and the film Finance Executives

wouldn't offer that insurance or further

Finance well I mean the it's not

completely sure what the legal imp imp

implementations are and so and people

are just it's a Hot Topic they don't

want to touch it they don't want to you

know be on the wrong side of this

conversation and uh the worried that

some some might sue the company and

nobody knows what's going to happen

and yeah so so and and can I ask you can

I ask you to look ahead then now that

you've been through this project this

experiment in some ways what do you

think the future is here for things like

chat GPT in script

writing well I I don't know I think I

mean as I said it's here to stay we have

to deal with it in a in a

constructive way and I I I know as much

as the next guy what's the future is

going to

be and you I know I can't ask you to

predict the future but being through

gone having gone through this process

are you optimistic pessimistic worried

scared

excited well I mean if the progress

continues at the way it's been going I'm

scared because I might be out of a job

soon I've I'm a screenwriter I've been

successful I always thought hey I'll be

fine I can write movies I'll be fine but

now suddenly I realize maybe I won't be

fine because the computer might steal my

job and at the moment I there's no need

I mean at the moment it can't steal my

job um without some help but um who

knows what the future will hold okay and

just just just lastly very very quickly

because we're almost out of time are you

actually quite pleased with all this

publicity of being cancelled that's only

good news for you

no well first I was very disappointed um

but it is now a big topic and we wanted

the movie to be spoken about and the

subject to be spoken about so in a way

that has helped us definitely Peter do

see thank you very much for coming on

the program in real life uh with genuine

answers from yourself from your own

brain not from chat GPT we really

appreciate your thoughts thank you very

much