UNESCO Sounds Alarm: AI Rewriting History and Denying the Holocaust

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation UNESCO has called on governments and tech companies to introduce ethical safeguards for artificial intelligence technology, and on schools to disseminate information about the risks of AI-generated content.

The UNESCO report highlights cases in which hackers have mounted chatbots to spread Nazi ideology, as well as other cases in which bots have invented their own stories about the Holocaust.

Artificial intelligence technology is helping to create false stories about World War II atrocities, including Holocaust denial, risking an "explosive spread of anti-Semitism," the UN warned on Tuesday. 

"If we allow the horrific facts of the Holocaust to be blurred, distorted or falsified through the irresponsible use of AI, we risk the explosive spread of anti-Semitism and a gradual diminution of our understanding of the causes and consequences of these atrocities. The implementation of the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of AI is urgent to ensure that younger generations grow up with facts, not fiction," said UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay

The UNESCO report, published in partnership with the World Jewish Congress, explains that as students increasingly use Generative AI to complete assignments and search for information online, they are at risk of being exposed to distorted information about the Holocaust that has found new ways to spread through AI-generated content.

With four out of five (80%) young people aged 10 to 24 now using artificial intelligence several times a day for learning, entertainment, and other purposes, action must be taken quickly to address the ethics of these new technologies.