(Jewish Group) AI facial recognition tech identifies rocker's mother in anonymous Holocaust photos

[Behind the Aegis]

AI facial recognition tech identifies rocker Geddy Lee’s mother in anonymous Holocaust photos

Rockstar Geddy Lee found never-before-seen photos of his mother’s family thanks to a new effort to apply artificial intelligence facial recognition technology to photographs from the Holocaust.

Lee’s mother, Holocaust survivor Mary Weinrib, died last summer at 95 years old. But the researchers of the AI technology, From Numbers to Names, managed to find a photo of Weinrib from her time at the displaced persons camp in Bergen-Belsen — a photo that then led Lee to find other photos of his mother’s extended family from the Yad Vashem photo collection.

Aside from her love for cooking and baking for her family during the Jewish holidays, Weinrib was an early supporter of Lee’s band Rush. The documentary series From Cradle to Stage, created by Foo Fighters musician Dave Grohl, explores the influence of mothers on their rock star children. The final episode of the first season from last year focuses on Weinrib and Lee’s relationship.

Created by Daniel Patt, a Google engineer and the descendent of four Holocaust survivors, From Numbers to Names allows users to upload a photo and then suggests ten other photos with faces that could be a match. The technology is now being used by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s photograph collection. The museum collection, which already had more than 34,000 photos, will now include access to an additional 1 million photos to “improve the scope and quality of the tool,” according to the From Numbers to Names website.

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