Virtual lecture series
The virtual lecture series “Eyewitness Accounts / Images of History / The Power of Interpretation. (How) Is AI Changing Our Understanding of the Past?” has been successfully concluded. We would like to thank all the speakers for their fascinating insights into ongoing research projects and current debates. We would also like to thank the numerous participants for their keen interest and the stimulating discussions, as well as the ZEIT Stiftung Bucerius for its generous support.
The lecture series was kicked off in June by Esther Rachow (Hebrew University of Jerusalem). She provided insights into her research as part of the EU project MEMORISE, focusing on questions regarding the use of AI in the field of Holocaust education. In the second lecture, Nina Brolich (University of Applied Sciences / University of Erfurt) and Helena Geibel (IGdJ) reported on the pilot project “Sentiment analysis: between insight and distortion? A case study of personal accounts of the Holocaust and its aftermath”, funded by the NFDI4Memory Incubator Fund, which formed the background for the lecture series. In the project, various methods (lexicon-based approach, machine learning, LLM) of sentiment and emotion analysis are being tested on the diaries of Martha Glass, a Jewish woman from Hamburg and Holocaust survivor, in order to explore the limitations and potential for historical research using personal accounts. Daniel Burckhardt (MMZ Potsdam) also explored a possible scenario for the use of AI-supported methods in the historical research process. Using the example of the Erna Magnus Collection from the LBI in New York – comprising 800 index cards on historical Jewish figures from Hamburg – he presented a method based on multimodal language models (LMMs) for creating semi-structured, machine-readable datasets for initial quantitative analyses. Clara Mansfeld (Foundation of Hamburg Memorials and Learning Centres) brought the series to a close with an insight into the phenomenon of AI-generated Holocaust images and the resulting challenges for historical and political education; in doing so, she advocated for the importance of accepting (visual) gaps and emphasised the significance of source and methodological criticism.
This lecture series thus highlighted various influences, impacts and challenges posed by AI on historical scholarship and the culture of remembrance; the event ‘How is AI changing our understanding of the past?’ on 20 January 2027 at Bucerius Law School in Hamburg aims to discuss these further and examine them even more closely in terms of their social relevance. This public evening event is jointly organised by the IGdJ, the Chair of Digital Humanities at the University of Applied Sciences / University of Erfurt, the Foundation of Hamburg Memorials and Learning Centres, hist4dem and Bucerius Law School, and is funded by the ZEIT Stiftung Bucerius. In addition to a keynote speech by Sebastian Kubon (AI lecturer at LMU Munich), there will be a panel discussion featuring experts from various fields, including museums, memorial sites, research and legal practice.
Further details to follow.
If you would like to register for the event now, please do so at kontakt[at]igdj-hh.de.
