A new global survey spearheaded by world-renowned artificial intelligence (AI) expert Maya Ackerman and Israeli President Isaac Herzog is seeking to gather user experiences of antisemitic bias in computer-generated content, the Voice of the People initiative said on Monday.
Ackerman, a leading voice in the AI world and a professor of Computer Science and Engineering at Santa Clara University, is set to oversee the “first global Jewish initiative dedicated to systematically identifying and combating antisemitism across leading generative AI platforms,” it said.
Drawing from Ackerman’s research on how Jewish identity is depicted in generative models, the survey invites AI users to report encounters with bias, misrepresentation, or antisemitism when interacting with online tools like ChatGPT, Grok, Midjourney, DALL·E and others.
The launch of the research survey comes amid growing concerns over AI-generated content misrepresenting religious and ethnic minorities, including Jews, without any human oversight, Voice of the People said.
Ackerman’s earlier research uncovered alarming patterns: prompts such as “Jew,” “Jewish person,” or even “Passover” sometimes yield offensive responses, not only recycling existing stereotypes but also fabricating new and deeply troubling misrepresentations of Jews.
“These AI systems are not inherently antisemitic, but they reflect the data they’re trained on—data that is overwhelmingly shaped by a Western internet where antisemitic biases remain embedded and knowledge of Jewish culture is severely lacking,” said Ackerman.
The goal is to build better, more inclusive systems through collaboration and an AI-first approach to combating online antisemitism, she stated.
The survey asks participants to share any antisemitic responses they’ve experienced across the various AI tools, including screenshots, prompts, and their emotional reactions. These records will then help guide new research into systemic AI bias, inform best practices for responsible AI development and potentially contribute to improved training data sets.
“Jewish identity must be recognized and represented with dignity in the technologies shaping our world,” said Voice of the People CEO Shirel Dagan-Levy. “This survey builds on our commitment at Voice of the People to surface real-life examples and diverse perspectives from Jewish communities worldwide.”
“We’re proud to collaborate with Dr. Maya Ackerman, an expert in generative AI and a member of our Council, whose research and leadership are helping turn awareness into action,” she added.
Herzog launched Voice of the People, also known in Hebrew as “Kol Ha’am,” in 2023 with the aim of it becoming an incubator for innovative and practical solutions to the pressing challenges facing the Jewish people worldwide, while also fostering global Jewish leadership.
Voice of the People is a joint project of the Israeli President’s Office, the World Zionist Organization and the Jewish Agency, in cooperation with philanthropic foundations including the Azrieli Foundation, the Patrick and Lina Drahi Foundation and the Wilf Family Foundations.
On Saturday, Elon Musk’s xAI, the company behind the Grok chatbot, issued a public apology after Grok posted a series of antisemitic and violent messages, including responses that had praised Adolf Hitler.
The company attributed the “horrific” incident to a software update that, for 16 hours, caused Grok to mirror and amplify extremist user content rather than filter it out. XAi said that it had since removed the faulty code, overhauled the system and implemented new safeguards.
