I've used FREE Artificial Intelligence tools to create biographies, poems, songs and podcasts about my ancestors lives, plus my genealogy research and family history in the recent past.
Every ancestor lives a unique life with unique relationships and life stories. Today, I want to share a poem, song, podcast and video about my wonderful mother, Betty Virginia (Carringer) Seaver (1919-2002) of San Diego, #3 on my Ahnentafel list.
I requested ChatGPT, Grok, Perplexity, and Claude (all FREE AI tools) to create poems and song lyrics, and Google NotebookLM to create an Audio Overview (a podcast) and a Video Overview (a presentation), to describe and celebrate the life of Betty Virginia (Carringer) Seaver. I uploaded a PDF of my genealogical sketch which has all of the information I have about her life in My Mother: Betty Virginia (Carringer) Seaver (1919-2002).
1) The prompt I used for the poem and song lyrics was: "Please create a poem and song lyrics to describe and celebrate the life and legacy of Betty Virginia (Carringer) Seaver using the attached document."
2) I chose the poem created by Anthropic Claude Sonnet 4.5 today:
San Diego's Betty
She was born when the century was young and new,
In a city of sunshine and Pacific blue,
An only child with a loving smile,
Who'd make each moment worthwhile.
Brooklyn Heights was her childhood home,
With Mi Casita where she'd roam,
A garden blooming in the block's sweet heart,
Four blocks from Balboa Park and its art.
The carillon sang from the California Tower,
Zoo animals called at the evening hour,
Streetcars rattled up 30th Street way,
As Betty grew taller day by day.
Shy and pretty, warm and kind,
With an artist's eye and creative mind,
From Brooklyn School to San Diego High,
She watched her beloved city touch the sky.
At State College she found her calling true,
Phi Sigma Nu and friendships new,
Then teaching art to young minds bright—
Till Marcia's dinner changed her life one night.
Fred from Massachusetts, handsome and tall,
She met him once and gave him her all,
Married in '42 when the world was at war,
Honeymooned in Laguna by the shore.
Three sons she raised with patient grace,
Each one blessed by her smiling face,
Randy, Stanley, Scott—her pride and joy,
She gave her whole heart to each boy.
In the sun room where the light poured through,
She painted watercolors in every hue,
Then found her passion in enamel's fire,
Angels and birds that never would tire.
Copper and kiln, her hands would create
Ornaments, plates to commemorate,
Christmas gifts that families treasure still,
Crafted with love and artistic skill.
She never drove, but walked with pride,
Took the bus with the city as her guide,
Read on the deck o'erlooking the bay,
Kind to all, every single day.
Four granddaughters came to light her years,
She held them close through joys and tears,
"To be kind to everybody," she would say—
A simple creed that showed the way.
From 1919 to 2002,
Betty lived a life both good and true,
In San Diego's sun she spent her days,
Leaving love in countless ways.
Now she rests at Fort Rosecrans hill,
Beside her Fred, together still,
Looking out on the Pacific wide,
A San Diego daughter, a city's pride.
3) Here are the AI song lyrics created by Claude Sonnet 4.5:
San Diego's Betty
(Verse 1)
Born in nineteen-nineteen, San Diego summer day
Only child of Lyle and Emily, in Brooklyn Heights she'd play
Mi Casita in the garden, carillon ringing clear
From the California Tower, sweet music she could hear
Growing tall and graceful, with a smile so warm and true
Balboa Park her playground, where the city's culture grew
(Verse 2)
Phi Sigma Nu in college, San Diego State her home
Teaching art at Wilson when she met the one she'd known
Fred came out from Massachusetts, dinner at a student's place
One look across that table and she'd found her saving grace
July of forty-two they wed, the world was still at war
Started building something that would last forevermore
(Chorus)
Betty, oh Betty, with your artist's gentle hands
Painting all the beauty of these California lands
From a shy girl to a mother, teacher, craftsman, friend
Living life with kindness from beginning to the end
Betty, oh Betty, your legacy remains
In the hearts you touched and the love that still sustains
(Verse 3)
Three sons she raised with patience, Randy, Stanley, and young Scott
PTA and teaching, giving all the love she'd got
In the sun room painting watercolors, catching light
Thirty-thirty on the corner where the view was just right
Then she found her passion in the enamel's copper glow
Angels, birds, and ornaments—her art began to flow
(Verse 4)
Never drove a single day but walked with head held high
Took the bus through San Diego underneath that endless sky
Four granddaughters came along to brighten up her years
Reading on the deck at Point Loma, through the joys and tears
"Be kind to everybody"—that's the wisdom that she'd share
Simple words that showed the way she chose to live and care
(Bridge)
From Fern Street to Harbor View
Through the decades, she stayed true
Eighty-two years of San Diego sun
A life of love, a race well run
And when she closed her eyes to rest
She'd given all, she'd given her best
(Chorus)
Betty, oh Betty, with your artist's gentle hands
Painting all the beauty of these California lands
From a shy girl to a mother, teacher, craftsman, friend
Living life with kindness from beginning to the end
Betty, oh Betty, your legacy remains
In the hearts you touched and the love that still sustains
(Outro)
Now she sleeps at Fort Rosecrans, Fred beside her still
Looking out on the Pacific from that sacred hill
And the family that she nurtured carries on her name
Betty Virginia Seaver—we honor your sweet flame
In every act of kindness, in every work of art
Betty, you're still with us, living in our hearts
"San Diego's Betty" (based on the song lyrics using Suno.com, with a melodic pop style in an upbeat tempo) can be played below:
The Google NotebookLM Video discussing Betty Virginia (Carringer) Seaver's life is below:
5) The AI tools do this so much better and faster than I can, and weave the poem and song along a story theme that is true and heartfelt. Each tool provides a different poem and song from the same prompt --I love fishing in all of the AI streams!! Frankly, doing the poems and song are the most genealogy fun I have every week!
6) These stories, told in verse, song, voice and video are part of my genealogy and family research. My hope is that they will be passed down to my grandchildren and their descendants to highlight the importance of sharing stories, memories, admiration, and love of our ancestors. I will add them to my Google Drive and to my YouTube channel and my FOREVER account.
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Copyright (c) 2025, Randall J. Seaver
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