Following Randy’s Lead

One of the earliest lessons I learned in my teaching career — one I credit to my dad — was the importance of learning from others in the field. Whether through professional conferences or participation in email discussion lists, there was always something new to discover: fresh ideas, new techniques, or better ways of doing familiar things. Although I first applied that lesson to education, I’ve found it equally true in my genealogy research.

When it comes to using artificial intelligence, my mentor has been Randy Seaver. My early AI experiments were lighthearted — such as asking a program to write a poem about an ancestor — but it wasn’t until Randy introduced his ABC Biography method that I began to see the real potential. His willingness to share his experiments and results opened my eyes to how AI tools could be used meaningfully in genealogy projects.

At Randy’s prompting, I explored Google Notebook LM, first to create short “podcasts” about relatives in my family tree. I even tried it to tell the story of WWII veteran Dorothy Swart Tatum. When I shared that podcast with the Nemaha County Historical Society, our curator asked if it might be possible to create similar podcasts for some of Nemaha County’s Purple Heart recipients.

That conversation became the seed of the Purple Heart Walk. After some discussion, we decided to create posters honoring the 39 men from Nemaha County who lost their lives in combat during World War II. These posters will be displayed in local businesses, each telling the story of a fallen soldier.

Thanks to Randy’s leadership with AI and his ABC Biography process, we are now blending traditional research with modern technology to create an engaging, multi-format tribute:

• ChatGPT – to craft a long-form narrative for each soldier’s web page
• ChatGPT – to write a concise 3–6 sentence summary for each poster
• Google Notebook LM – to generate an audio overview of each soldier’s story
• Canva – to design the posters
• Canva + audio – to combine the poster image and audio overview into a video
• YouTube – to host the videos and link them to each soldier’s web page

Without Randy’s curiosity, innovation, and willingness to share his journey, this project might never have taken shape. Thank you, Randy, for inspiring a tribute that blends history, technology, and remembrance.

Below is one of the completed videos.