Holocaust survivors use AI imagery to keep stories alive

Holocaust survivor Dov Sagaju, 87, who was born in Romania holds up a photograph of him as a boy which was used to create an avatar that together with a memory, was transformed into images using Midjourney, an artificial intelligence program that creates images from text as part of an initiative by Chasdei Naomi, a non-profit organisation that provides help to thousands of Holocaust survivors, in Ashkelon, Israel January 19, 2023. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

Ehudith Bracha Serchook narrowly escaped death when her family fled Nazi-allied forces storming the Crimean city of Odesa in 1941, saved only by a lost sandal which made her miss her place on a passenger ship shortly before it was bombed.

A lifetime later, 86-year-old Serchook is retelling her story via an artificial intelligence (AI) service generating images that will leave an enduring record of her trauma for future generations.