Back At It

 

Genealogy is like an Addiction. No mater how much you have, you always want more. I thought I was done with it because of frustration with language barriers and lack of data. My son’s interest in some very old photos made me think about it again, and then I looked back at some old records. Questions arose.

Over time, I collected lots of names and dates. My focus was on ancestors rather than just accumulating names of very distant relatives. I went back as far as I could until the frustration got to me. But context was always lacking.

What is missing are family stories. I made some YouTube videos about my immigrant ancestors and a couple of others with family as focus. Each one was a time-consuming project. I also wrote a few essays about family and posted them on a blog that never took off. I plan to write more.

So here I go again. Hoping that more records have become available in the intervening years. With few exceptions, my focus will still be on ancestors, but I hope to add context to understand them as people, not just names and dates.

And I will be using AI occasionally. I’ve already asked two questions and have received very useful information. I asked: Tell me about social history of Poland in the 19^th century. I also made the same request about Bohemia in the 19^th century. AI can be very useful.

If you’re interested, here are links to my family stories

youtube.com/@familystories2406

https://mcfstories.blogspot.com/

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A Blessing AND a Curse

 

AI seemed like a good idea at the time. It looked like endless resources for scientists, educators, researchers, students, and anyone looking for information.

I happily used it when I was doing genealogical research because I wanted context instead of just names and dates. I asked about life in Prussian Poland in the 19^th century. I asked what St. Paul, MN was like in the 1930’s.  Responses were interesting and helpful in giving insight into my ancestors.

It has advanced medical research. Prosthetics are being developed that can be controlled by the person using them.

Every Google search uses AI to find results. There are definite benefits to AI.

But then the con artists adopted it. Unless it comes from someone you know, every online image could be created using AI. They create false news articles, false posts on every social media platform. The list goes on.

But I believe that the ultimate danger is from the AI developers themselves. Not long ago there was news about an AI test that got out of control and hacked into commercial sites. An article by SciTech Daily talks about how these systems are learning to think on their own. Our worst nightmare. https://scitechdaily.com/how-ai-is-learning-to-think-on-its-own-like-humans/

Finally, the leaders of AI companies are realizing that they’ve created a monster. A monster without ethics, without controls. And the nature of developers is to search for and try the next innovation. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei wrote Saturday that AI companies “must slow the pace at which we improve the capabilities of AI models.”

Our government representatives are proposing new regulations for artificial intelligence. But there’s no agreement as to how to go about it.

I hope that it will be contained before there’s a catastrophe. But I’m not counting on it.

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9-11-2001

 

25 years ago

Living in Boulder, CO. When I went to take trash to the end of the driveway, a neighbor asked if I knew about the disaster but he worded it in such a way that I thought he was joking.

I turned on the TV in time to see the second plane hit. It was hard to believe that it

was real, so it took a minute to register in my brain. I was glued to the TV for the rest of the day in a state of awe and fear. What would happen next? TV cameras showed terrified people trying to outrun the spreading smoke and debris.  I don’t know how to describe the feeling watching the buildings collapse – it seemed impossible. First responders worked tirelessly to rescue victims, and try to contain the fires. Some became victims themselves.

Then the Pentagon was hit.

Then we heard about the fourth plane that crashed in Pennsylvania. It crashed because of the bravery of the passengers who overpowered the hijackers. Everyone perished.

What a horrific day! Images are forever burned into my brain. And maybe yours, too.

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The Natives are Getting Restless

 The birds are coming.

There’s a Magnolia tree behind our building that produces beautiful white flowers for about 2 months in  Spring. When pollinated by wasps, they grow a seed pod from the flower pistil.

The tree sits quiet over Summer as the pods grow. Squirrels scamper among the branches but not much else is happening.

But now, at the end of Summer, the seeds in the pods grow and ripen. I watch them gradually turn from green to red. Apparently they emit a slight scent detectable by birds and squirrels.

More and more birds begin arriving to see if the seeds are ready yet. Birds show up that we rarely see the rest of the year. When the seeds  finally turn bright red, the onslaught begins. Birds and squirrels arrive for the feast.

The squirrels are able to gnaw at the base of a pod so that it detaches and falls to the ground where it is snatched up and carried to a protected place under a bush. It isn’t clear whether the birds can detach the pods or simply feed on the ripe seeds.

It takes a month or two for all the pods to ripen so there’s a pretty long flurry of activity until all goes quiet again. It sure is fun to watch.

 

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