AI and the Shaping of Collective Memory

Abstract

This case study examines how artificial intelligence (AI) plays a role in building and fabricating collective memory. Following on from foundational memory work by Halbwachs, Zelizer, and Young, the case reveals how AI technologies, particularly generative AI, transform public conceptions of past events through the production of believable but potentially inaccurate content. Set in a near-future hypothetical, the case records the viral transmission of an AI-generated documentary about a fabricated civil rights protest. Even relying on fragmented truths, the AI authored a coherent if historically false narrative that had gone far beyond circulation by the time historians could intervene. This case provokes urgent questions regarding authenticity, responsibility, and the work of algorithms in fashioning memory and history. It also examines the power disparities created by AI technologies and insists on the critical oversight, such as the hypothetical Verified Memory Project, to verify the authenticity of public speech. The case asks us to ponder who commands history in the age of algorithms and what are the broader stakes for misinformation, algorithmic bias, and the democratic enterprise of digital memory-making.