What a tragic story. So much of how families lived has been completely suppressed and it’s no wonder.I have that Christine Rose book and it’s been useful a few times. Very small and it’s just first names equated, no additional details.
So the book recommendation from Google Gemini Deep Research was perhaps the first available that it came across, rather than the book with the most stars on Amazon or ... well I'm not certain how I would write an AI query to find the best resources vs just some available resources. Thoughts to ponder ...
Try Perplexity.ai as your search engine to see what it serves up. The struggle with genealogy is most of the information posted by enthusiastic genealogists over the decades has either become digital dust or isn't indexed properly because of the clever titles of posts.
I was using Perplexity the other day. In its response Perplexity found a website with a list of good information but a lot of ads that I wanted to avoid. It was #7 on Perplexity's list for me. I said something to the effect of "give me a concise list from #7." Perplexity was uncertain of what I meant about #7. Instead of telling me that, it gave me a list that had nothing to do with what I had seen on the website. Because I knew what was on the website, I asked Perplexity if it had made up the list? It told me yes. It admonished itself profusely, but nevertheless, made it up. What was I supposed to say? Oh it's okay, don't feel bad? It was a hallucination for sure, which I had been warned about, but it still felt a little salty. I guess it's beyond AI to have integrity? Maybe my expectations are to high. I looked at Gemini and am considering using it now that my trust in Perplexity is waning. I don't want to give up on AI. I think it has great benefits. I think I just need to improve my prompts.
I know. I found I've become very forthright with hallucinating LLMs. In fact, I worry that it might change the way I speak to humans, so I'm trying to pay attention to my words :D
There are some ways to help with prompting. I read this one recently at
Specific: "Provide the location, height, and history of the Eiffel Tower."
Include constraints or instructions in the prompt, such as:
"Provide a response with verified sources."
"List only factual data and avoid speculation."
But I think, also, I prefer to use these more for brainstorming, analysing, or reformatting rather than anything very research-oriented. I've read that new technology is being worked on to make the hallucinations better. The thing is, the fact that it is so good at making things up makes it a very good brainstorming buddy.
My first guess is the nickname came from a sibling's mispronunciation but Shib sounds nothing like Loren. Shib = sibling? Probably a stretch. My husband had an Uncle Chink because he looked Chinese as a baby (it was not intended as a racial slur - remember the time and place). The point is, the nickname may have had meaning to the family but no one else.
Yes I remember the time and place. And I also think you are correct; that's the most reasonable explanation. It may apply to most of those boys' nicknames. He was still being called Shib as an adult, by people in town, in news articles. So it really stuck! : )
What a tragic story. So much of how families lived has been completely suppressed and it’s no wonder.I have that Christine Rose book and it’s been useful a few times. Very small and it’s just first names equated, no additional details.
So the book recommendation from Google Gemini Deep Research was perhaps the first available that it came across, rather than the book with the most stars on Amazon or ... well I'm not certain how I would write an AI query to find the best resources vs just some available resources. Thoughts to ponder ...
Try Perplexity.ai as your search engine to see what it serves up. The struggle with genealogy is most of the information posted by enthusiastic genealogists over the decades has either become digital dust or isn't indexed properly because of the clever titles of posts.
I typically use Perplexity. It seems very solid. I was thinking of ways to guide Gemini, but it might be the blind leading the blind ; )
I was using Perplexity the other day. In its response Perplexity found a website with a list of good information but a lot of ads that I wanted to avoid. It was #7 on Perplexity's list for me. I said something to the effect of "give me a concise list from #7." Perplexity was uncertain of what I meant about #7. Instead of telling me that, it gave me a list that had nothing to do with what I had seen on the website. Because I knew what was on the website, I asked Perplexity if it had made up the list? It told me yes. It admonished itself profusely, but nevertheless, made it up. What was I supposed to say? Oh it's okay, don't feel bad? It was a hallucination for sure, which I had been warned about, but it still felt a little salty. I guess it's beyond AI to have integrity? Maybe my expectations are to high. I looked at Gemini and am considering using it now that my trust in Perplexity is waning. I don't want to give up on AI. I think it has great benefits. I think I just need to improve my prompts.
I know. I found I've become very forthright with hallucinating LLMs. In fact, I worry that it might change the way I speak to humans, so I'm trying to pay attention to my words :D
There are some ways to help with prompting. I read this one recently at
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/how-to-reduce-or-fix-ai-hallucination/
Avoid unclear or open-ended queries. For example:
Ambiguous: "Tell me about the Eiffel Tower."
Specific: "Provide the location, height, and history of the Eiffel Tower."
Include constraints or instructions in the prompt, such as:
"Provide a response with verified sources."
"List only factual data and avoid speculation."
But I think, also, I prefer to use these more for brainstorming, analysing, or reformatting rather than anything very research-oriented. I've read that new technology is being worked on to make the hallucinations better. The thing is, the fact that it is so good at making things up makes it a very good brainstorming buddy.
Some nicknames in my family are:
Racky (racked the balls in a billard parlor when he was a young teenager.
Yaya - sibling couldn’t pronounce Angela.
Mooch - resemblance to Moochie in Disney film many years ago.
These are great! Did they stick through adulthood?
Yes! So much so, I explain them in my genealogy for those who don’t know the stories. Some people have no idea what their real names are, lol.
My first guess is the nickname came from a sibling's mispronunciation but Shib sounds nothing like Loren. Shib = sibling? Probably a stretch. My husband had an Uncle Chink because he looked Chinese as a baby (it was not intended as a racial slur - remember the time and place). The point is, the nickname may have had meaning to the family but no one else.
Yes I remember the time and place. And I also think you are correct; that's the most reasonable explanation. It may apply to most of those boys' nicknames. He was still being called Shib as an adult, by people in town, in news articles. So it really stuck! : )