At Wizeline, innovation and challenging the status quo is at the heart of all we do. Yet, sometimes, the most meaningful applications of technology come from deeply personal places and experiences. 

Ben van Glabbeek, Regional Technology Lead at Wizeline, has recently embarked on a remarkable journey. Ben has turned to Artificial Intelligence to preserve the stories, memory and essence of his beloved grandfather, Forrest Renfrow Belcher.  Ben’s endeavor is not just a technical achievement, but a heartfelt tribute and story that speaks to the power of family, memories, and connections.

Stories embody the fabric of our culture. They help connect us to our past and guide our future. For Ben, his close relationship with his grandfather provided a treasure trove of such stories, shaping his values and memories through his wisdom and experiences.

Getting To Know “Project” Forrest

Forrest grew up along the Sand Springs streetcar line in Oklahoma.  He ensured his stories would live on long after his passing by capturing his life’s journey in a book titled “Life on the Line.”  This book, a gift for his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, would serve as a way for them to look back and connect with their grandfather’s life and legacy long after he was gone.

Inspired by his strong emotional connection and the deep sense of loss after Forrest’s passing, Ben decided to use AI’s power to preserve his grandfather’s stories and organize his book for future generations. With this focus, Ben created an AI bot based on his grandfather’s writings. While he’s not an AI expert, in under an hour Ben leveraged OpenAI’s custom GPT to build a prototype. He uploaded the contents of Forrest’s book and began testing, spending hours conversing with his grandfather through the bot.

“Thanks to the AI bot, I have been able to engage with my grandfather’s stories in new and interactive ways,” said Ben. “For me, it was not just about preserving his words, but capturing the essence of my grandfather’s personality and wisdom. In a relatively short time, it became a way for me to converse with my grandfather just as I did when I was a child, asking him about his life, his experiences, and his learnings.”

From Forrest to Family 

This effort soon turned into a family project. Ben’s son, who has a keen interest in World War II, also found joy and a special connection interacting with the AI bot, which in a way, was actually his great-grandfather. 

Apart from learning about his great-grandfather’s experiences during World War II, Ben’s son also had the opportunity to ask questions about Forrest, getting to know him better despite never having met him. He also got the chance to ask about his great-grandmother, whom he knew until she passed a few years ago, strengthening his connection with his family and his roots. “Seeing my son interact with the bot and ask about his great-grandfather was incredibly rewarding. It made all the challenges worthwhile,” Ben said.

It became clear that Project Forrest was connecting family generations through an AI bot that answered questions they never thought they would get answers to today. It was almost as if Forrest was there with them, bridging the gap between the past and present.

Not Without Its Challenges

Although it was a joyful experience, it was not short on challenges. Ben soon realized the limitations of the AI. While effective 80% of the time, the bot struggled with accuracy and context in some stories. 

“I had to continuously tweak the prompts and sometimes reframe questions to get better responses. It wasn’t perfect, but each adjustment brought us closer to capturing my grandfather’s essence,” Ben said. “The book covered my grandfather’s life from his childhood until he returned from World War II, a period when only one of his four children was alive. When I asked the bot about his children, it gave strange and inaccurate responses. Similarly, when I inquired about a story involving my brother, the answers were off and didn’t align with reality.”

Despite these challenges, Ben has found immense value in the project due to the emotional connection it fostered and the comfort it provided.

“The amazing part,” added Ben, “is that anyone can do this. It’s very straightforward for someone to upload content and make it available to anyone they want.”

The Potential To Go Further

Inspired by the success of his grandfather’s AI bot and the reaction from the rest of his family, Ben is looking ahead at the potential of creating similar bots for other loved ones. 

For example, Ben never had the opportunity to meet his mother-in-law, who died before he met his wife. He’s hoping to curate stories from his wife’s family, and compile these into a content database / book. From there, he could build a similar AI Bot, which will then help bridge the gap between generations, and allow his children to understand and even connect with the grandmother they never knew. 

Ultimately, this type of technology enables current and future generations  to create connections with their ancestors and keep their memory alive. Project Forrest not only reconnected Ben and his children to his grandfather, but has also underscored the importance of documenting our lives and AI’s powerful role in enhancing the human experience.

“For me, this  project has been a testament to the power of writing and preserving stories,” said Ben. “I can’t stress enough the importance and power of documenting our lives  through journals, letters, and books. These stories, much like analytics and data for our clients, become a rich foundation for creating meaningful interactions. The process of building the bot has not only connected me to my grandfather, but it’s also highlighted the importance of prioritizing projects that seemed initially daunting or out of reach.”

As Ben continues to refine his AI bot, he remains motivated by the comfort and connection it provides. 

Forrest Renfrow Belcher’s stories live on, not just in the pages of a book, but through the conversations sparked by an AI bot—an innovative tribute to a remarkable life.