A journalist paid €1.99 to use a new AI-powered search engine designed to help people find out if their ancestors were involved in the Nazi Party, but the tool failed to work for him.
The search engine, created by German newspaper Bild, uses large quantities of historical data to help people search what their family members may have been up to during the Nazi era. It has been built using 12.7 million maps of the U.S. National Archives, among other data sets, as well as NSDAP files, SS and SA lists, and denazification certificates.
Journalist's search hits a brick wall
Joshua Whorms, who has a German surname formerly spelled “Worms” before the family changed it for easier English pronunciation, wanted to know what his German relatives were doing before they migrated to the Caribbean. After paying the fee and using the site's translate button about 20 times, he was unable to get the tool to work.
Instead, he researched his family tree and found that his German relatives departed Europe for Jamaica before the start of World War One.
Professor behind the project
Professor Jürgen W. Falter, 82, the creator of the Nazi party membership AI search engine, said: "My research project on the members of the NSDAP spanned a total of eight years, during which several research assistants and assistants were employed. Today, this can be done in a few months, and even in a few weeks with the help of well-trained AI."
Although the AI Nazi search engine did not work for Whorms, he noted that others may have more luck, adding that "who knows what you'll find."
