Personal Encyclopedias (whoami.wiki)

Article summary

The author created a personal encyclopedia using MediaWiki and language models to document their family history and personal life. They started by organizing old photos and interviewing their grandmother, then used AI to help fill in gaps and create a structured, browsable account of their life. The project, called whoami.wiki, uses data exports and AI to create pages about events, people, and experiences. The author has released the project as an open-source tool for others to use.

Main themes

• Personal archiving
• AI-assisted storytelling
• Family history
• Digital legacy
• Human-AI collaboration

What commenters say

• The use of AI in creating a personal encyclopedia is a double-edged sword, being both a powerful tool and a potential threat to human connection and creativity.
• The project raises questions about the role of AI in preserving family history and personal memories, and whether it can truly replace human effort and emotional investment.
• Some argue that the use of AI in this project is a net positive, enabling the creation of a rich and detailed personal history that would be impossible to achieve manually.
• Others express concerns about the potential for AI to exploit or distort personal data, and the need for careful consideration of the boundaries and limitations of AI-assisted storytelling.
• The project highlights the tension between the benefits of technology in preserving memories and the potential loss of human touch and emotional depth in the process.
• There are differing opinions on whether the use of AI in this project enhances or diminishes the value of the personal encyclopedia, with some seeing it as a useful tool and others as a hindrance to genuine human connection.