Digital Dybbuks and Virtual Golems: The Ethics of Digital Duplicates in Holocaust Testimony

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Kozlovski, Atay, Makhortykh, Mykola
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Kozlovski, Atay
Makhortykh, Mykola
author_facet Kozlovski, Atay
Makhortykh, Mykola
contents Advances in generative artificial intelligence (AI) have driven a growing effort to create digital duplicates. These semi-autonomous recreations of living and dead people can be used for many purposes. Some of these purposes include tutoring, coping with grief, and attending business meetings. However, the normative implications of digital duplicates remain obscure, particularly considering the possibility of them being applied to genocide memory and education. To address this gap, we examine normative possibilities and risks associated with the use of more advanced forms of generative AI-enhanced duplicates for transmitting Holocaust survivor testimonies. We first review the historical and contemporary uses of survivor testimonies. Then, we scrutinize the possible benefits of using digital duplicates in this context and apply the Minimally Viable Permissibility Principle (MVPP). The MVPP is an analytical framework for evaluating the risks of digital duplicates. It includes five core components: the need for authentic presence, consent, positive value, transparency, and harm-risk mitigation. Using MVPP, we identify potential harms digital duplicates might pose to different actors, including survivors, users, and developers. We also propose technical and socio-technical mitigation strategies to address these harms.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_01369
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Digital Dybbuks and Virtual Golems: The Ethics of Digital Duplicates in Holocaust Testimony
Kozlovski, Atay
Makhortykh, Mykola
Computers and Society
Advances in generative artificial intelligence (AI) have driven a growing effort to create digital duplicates. These semi-autonomous recreations of living and dead people can be used for many purposes. Some of these purposes include tutoring, coping with grief, and attending business meetings. However, the normative implications of digital duplicates remain obscure, particularly considering the possibility of them being applied to genocide memory and education. To address this gap, we examine normative possibilities and risks associated with the use of more advanced forms of generative AI-enhanced duplicates for transmitting Holocaust survivor testimonies. We first review the historical and contemporary uses of survivor testimonies. Then, we scrutinize the possible benefits of using digital duplicates in this context and apply the Minimally Viable Permissibility Principle (MVPP). The MVPP is an analytical framework for evaluating the risks of digital duplicates. It includes five core components: the need for authentic presence, consent, positive value, transparency, and harm-risk mitigation. Using MVPP, we identify potential harms digital duplicates might pose to different actors, including survivors, users, and developers. We also propose technical and socio-technical mitigation strategies to address these harms.
title Digital Dybbuks and Virtual Golems: The Ethics of Digital Duplicates in Holocaust Testimony
topic Computers and Society
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.01369