Using AI on a wedding report

I recently read this most interesting article by Steve Little about extracting details from text using AI https://asheancestors.org/2023/03/20/ai-and-genealogy-using-chatgpt-to-glean-info-from-obits-articles-and-announcements/

I copied Steve’s instructions then added the text from a marriage report found in Trove. 

Thomas William Meaney in this report lived from 1895 until 1957. His marriage to Nora Silvy as detailed below took place on the 7 August 1929. He is my second cousin once removed. Thomas and Nora are buried in the St John’s cemetery in South Australia.

Instructions to ChatGPT

Assume the role of an expert, professional genealogist. Consider the genealogically relevant information that might appear in a wedding announcement. Below is the OCR text (correct for spelling) of an announcement. I would like to know about the stated relationships between people in the text. When you can with certainty, state the relationship between two people in the article. in a markdown table use the form PERSON ONE : PERSON TWO : RELATIONSHIP : INFORMATION. (Where INFORMATION is the quoted text in the article describing the relationship between the two people.

At St. Rose's Church, Kapunda, the wedding was celebrated of Miss Nora Silvy, third daughter of Mrs. and the late Mr. J. Silvy, and Mr. Thomas Meaney, eldest son of the late Mr. and Mrs. John Meaney, of Freeling. The bride, who entered the church on the arm of Mr. William Silvy, her eldest brother, wore a frock of white crepe de chine trimmed with silver lace, her veil was worn cap fashion, trimmed with orange blossom, and she carried a bouquet of white and pink flowers with white streamers. Miss Mary Meaney (niece of the bride) was bridesmaid in a blue crepe de chine frock, with silver buckle, and posy on shoulder. She wore a silver head band, and carried a bouquet of blue and pink flowers and blue streamers. Father Bede officiated, and also played the wedding march. Mr. Lawrence Silvy (brother of the bride was best man. Mrs. Silvy (mother of the bride) wore a black coat and skirt with black hat to match. The bride and bridegroom left the church for the residence of the bride's sister (Mrs. J. Meaney) where the wedding breakfast was held. The toast of the bride, bridegroom, and bridesmaid and best man was proposed by Mr. N. Roberts, and the cake was cut by the bridegroom left the church for the residence of the bride's sister (Mrs. J. Meaney) where the wedding breakfast was held. The toast of the bride, bridegroom, and bridesmaid and best man was proposed by Mr. N. Roberts, and the cake was cut by the bride.

ChatGPT output

Person One	Person Two	Relationship	Information
Nora Silvy	J. Silvy (father)	Daughter	"Miss Nora Silvy, third daughter of Mrs. and the late Mr. J. Silvy"
Nora Silvy	Mrs. Silvy (mother)	Daughter	"Miss Nora Silvy, third daughter of Mrs. and the late Mr. J. Silvy"
Thomas Meaney	John Meaney (father)	Son	"Mr. Thomas Meaney, eldest son of the late Mr. and Mrs. John Meaney"
Thomas Meaney	Mrs. John Meaney (mother)	Son	"Mr. Thomas Meaney, eldest son of the late Mr. and Mrs. John Meaney"
William Silvy	Nora Silvy	Brother	"The bride, who entered the church on the arm of Mr. William Silvy, her eldest brother"
Mary Meaney	Nora Silvy	Niece	"Miss Mary Meaney (niece of the bride) was bridesmaid"
Lawrence Silvy	Nora Silvy	Brother	"Mr. Lawrence Silvy (brother of the bride was best man)"
J. Meaney	Nora Silvy	Sister-in-law	"The bride and bridegroom left the church for the residence of the bride's sister (Mrs. J. Meaney)"

From the given text, we can determine the following relationships:

• Nora Silvy is the daughter of J. Silvy and Mrs. Silvy.
• Thomas Meaney is the son of John Meaney and Mrs. John Meaney.
• William Silvy is the eldest brother of Nora Silvy.
• Mary Meaney is the niece of Nora Silvy.
• Lawrence Silvy is the brother of Nora Silvy.
• J. Meaney is the sister-in-law of Nora Silvy, as she is the wife of Nora's brother Thomas Meaney.

My thoughts

 The results clearly explain the relationships between the folks listed, however the text in red is an incorrect interpretation as the information highlighted in the table clearly states that Mrs J Meaney is the bride’s sister.

This was an interesting exercise for me but a reminder for me too, to always check the output of any AI tool or indeed any genealogical source. 

With AI tools already being used by the large genealogical record companies, it will indeed be interesting to observe how AI tools find their way into the everyday family historian’s toolbox. 

Gravestone of Thomas and Nora Meaney

This post first appeared on earlieryears.blogspot.com by CRGalvin