Next Pogrom Will Be Programmed

1.    In history books, the word "POGROM" is often tied to specific periods of ethnic violence—especially against Jewish communities in Eastern Europe. A pogrom is more than just a riot; it’s an organized, often state-enabled outbreak of brutal violence targeting specific groups. It is born from fear, hate, and most dangerously—manipulation.

2.    While we think of pogroms as a tragic part of the past, we may be standing on the edge of new, digitally-driven versions of the same horror—except this time, powered by AI.

---

The Coming Age of AI — and Its Silent Influence

3.    Artificial Intelligence is entering every corner of our lives:

• Education

• News and media

• Music and literature

• Corporate systems and productivity tools

• Governance and public policy

    It writes blogs, creates textbooks, helps teach children, powers social feeds, and even assists in lawmaking. On the surface, this looks like progress. But if AI is the new teacher, advisor, and storyteller—who’s writing the lesson plan? And what happens if that plan is POISONED, even subtly?

---

When AI Goes Wrong — Not in Function, But in Moral Alignment

4.    Governments and institutions often focus on whether AI works:

• Does it generate answers quickly?

• Is it efficient?

• Is it technically safe?

But the more important question is:

“Is it aligned with the core values of humanity?”

    It is not enough for AI to be correct—it must also be conscious of history, empathy, pluralism, and truth. If its knowledge base is built on biased data, distorted history, or political manipulation, then it may amplify those biases at scale.

That’s not just a bug—it’s a blueprint for future hate.

---

Data Poisoning → Ideological Conditioning

5.    Imagine an AI assistant used in schools, subtly omitting inconvenient historical truths.

Or a national chatbot that only promotes one version of events Or an AI-generated textbook that simplifies or sanitizes acts of violence or oppression.

    Children growing up on this information will carry those skewed truths into adulthood. And when they become voters, teachers, soldiers, or leaders—they may unknowingly carry forward the seeds of division, supremacy, or indifference.

This isn’t science fiction. It’s already beginning.

---

States Must Wake Up: Caution Over Celebration

6.    Governments today are racing to deploy AI—to streamline services, enhance productivity, or showcase technological success. But this race is not a sprint—it’s a minefield.

    Quick deployment without ethical deliberation is not innovation—it’s negligence.

Each state must ask:

• What DATA is our AI being trained on?

• Whose VOICES are included—and whose are ERASED?

• Are we building tools that SERVE HUMANITY, or merely POWER?

• Are we preserving history—or rewriting/changing it?

---

The Role of Education: History Must Stay Intact

7.    We must re-emphasize the teaching of real history in schools—not sanitized, not politicized.

• Children must learn what a pogrom was, and what caused it,the true version (is it even possible today ).

• They must see how propaganda, fear, and obedience led to atrocities.

• They must learn to ask questions, to cross-check truth, and to recognize manipulation.

8.    The historical record is not just a memory; it is a mirror, warning us what happens when ideology overpowers empathy.

If we don’t protect this knowledge—AI won’t either.

---

What Must Be Done — A Human-Centric AI Future

• Independent oversight for national and corporate AI projects

• Ethical audits of training data, with transparency about sources

• Mandatory historical literacy in AI model development

• Citizen access to “truth trails”—allowing people to trace where AI got its information

• Cross-cultural councils to advise on training large language models

• Global agreements on ethical alignment, not just technical safety

---

Final Words: It Begins With Us

9.    Pogroms don’t start with weapons. They start with distorted truths, targeted fear, and silence from those who knew better.

10.    We have a narrow window to ensure AI becomes a guardian of humanity, not a silent architect of its division.

Let’s make sure future generations look back not in horror—but in gratitude—that we saw what was coming and acted in time.

Potemkin AI: The Illusion of Intelligence Behind the Curtain

1.    In the 18th century, Russian statesman Grigory Potemkin famously constructed fake villages to impress Empress Catherine the Great, creating the illusion of prosperity where none existed. This illusion, known as a "Potemkin village," was designed to deceive observers into thinking a region was thriving, when in reality, it was far from it. Fast forward to today, and we see a similar deception in the world of artificial intelligence—an illusion we can call "Potemkin AI."

2.    Just like the elaborate mechanical automata of the past, Potemkin AI refers to systems that appear highly advanced and autonomous but are often built on human labor hidden behind the scenes. These AI systems might seem like they can perform complex tasks independently, but in truth, they rely heavily on human input, often from low-wage workers, to function effectively.

Source: https://spectrum.ieee.org/untold-history-of-ai-charles-babbage-and-the-turk 

Historical Analogies: The Mechanical Turk and the Digesting Duck

3.    Take, for example, Wolfgang von Kempelen's Mechanical Turk (1770), an automaton that supposedly played chess autonomously. In reality, the machine was a façade, hiding a human chess player inside. The "AI" was just an illusion created by the complex gears and levers that distracted from the human labor behind the scenes. Similarly, Jacques de Vaucanson's Digesting Duck (1730s) seemed to eat, digest, and excrete food like a real duck, but it was merely a pre-loaded trick that mimicked biological processes without actually understanding them.

4.    These historical examples serve as powerful metaphors for today's AI systems. Many AI technologies, such as content moderation or image recognition, are marketed as intelligent solutions. However, much of the heavy lifting is done by humans, not machines. For instance, social media platforms often claim that their content moderation is AI-driven, yet human moderators are the ones who do much of the work, flagging inappropriate content that the system misses. Similarly, in facial recognition and surveillance, AI models may need constant training and correction by human workers to ensure accuracy.

Potemkin AI: The Deceptive Reality

5.    In the case of Potemkin AI, the marketing hype and technical gimmicks create the illusion of advanced, self-sufficient systems. These technologies appear to be fully autonomous, capable of handling tasks like a human, but in reality, they are powered by human labor. The true nature of these systems is hidden from the public, much like the deceptive villages built to mislead the Empress.

6.    In the world of AI, the human effort behind the scenes is often underpaid and undervalued, making these systems look more advanced than they truly are.

Conclusion: A Critical Look at AI's True Nature

7.    Potemkin AI is not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s important to recognize the illusion for what it is. These AI systems are useful, but they are not as autonomous or sophisticated as the marketing materials suggest. By understanding the role of human labor in powering these technologies, we can begin to think critically about their future, their ethical implications, and the importance of fair compensation for the workers who make these "intelligent" systems work.

DEFINITION: Potemkin AI refers to artificial intelligence systems that appear highly autonomous and sophisticated but actually rely on hidden human labor to perform key tasks and maintain their functionality