I just heard about the fact that ChatGPT will run your family tree for you. All you have to do is to give them all of the information you have and it does all the rest. Sure, why not?
 
So, I put in my data, told them my family base in the U.S. and Scotland, and let it do what it do. Pretty good.
 
I mean for those of us who have enjoyed watching that PBS show, Finding Your Roots, I think we all dream about having a deep dive like that done on our family, where we can find out all of the hidden what’s what. Certainly, what ChatGPT produced was nothing like that. But, it did pull up some dates and some facts about what the occupations of some of my relatives were in Scotland and the U.S. One of the most interesting discoveries was, (I guess he would be my Great-Uncle), was a Labor Advocate and at one point became the United States Deputy Secretary of Labor during the Presidency of Dwight Eisenhower. Nobody ever told me that. Well, nobody ever really told me anything except about what I witnessed while they were alive. I’ve learned way more about family from and on the internet than I ever did from them.
 
What ChatGPT presented was not all exact and true. In one case, they messed up some facts about my father and his brother, my uncle. But, I guess, you just have to take all that with a grain of salt.
 
Interesting though… How so much is out there and all you have to do is to know how and where to look.
 
The world is changing fast. I’m told they don’t even teach kids how to write cursive in school anymore, because computers can’t read it.
 
So often, when I do something in the here and the now, that used to take forever to accomplish, if it could be accomplished at all, I just can’t help but think,  “I wish I had this ability back then. How different my life would have evolved.”
 
Here we are. All we have is what we have when we have it. But, when what we have now is so much better than all that was before, it just leaves us/me to wonder, “if only.”

But, I guess looking back only holds us back. So…