This week, we were asked to use generative AI to produce an essay and a transcription of a historical document. We then were to review AI’s effectiveness and accuracy in producing these. The AI used in my responses is Microsoft CoPilot’s “Smart” setting.

Prompt #1 (Essay): Generate a two-page essay on the experiences of soldiers during the U.S. Civil War. This essay must be formatted in Chicago-Turabian style and include correct citations as an additional page. Also, generate an image of a Union soldier.

Product:

Experiences of Soldiers During the U.S. Civil War

The U.S. Civil War reshaped the lives of the men who fought it, exposing them to physical hardship, emotional strain, and profound personal transformation. Whether they wore Union blue or Confederate gray, soldiers encountered a world defined by violence, deprivation, and uncertainty. Their experiences—on the battlefield, in camp, and in hospitals—reveal the human cost of a conflict that claimed more American lives than any other war in the nation’s history. Understanding these experiences provides insight into how ordinary individuals endured extraordinary circumstances.

Combat and the Reality of War

Combat during the Civil War was unlike anything most soldiers had imagined. Many enlisted with romantic notions of heroism, only to confront the brutal reality of nineteenth‑century warfare. The widespread use of rifled muskets and artillery increased accuracy and lethality, making frontal assaults devastatingly costly. Gerald F. Linderman argues that soldiers’ early enthusiasm gave way to a sobering understanding of the war’s horrors as they witnessed death on a massive scale.¹ The chaos of battle—thick smoke, deafening cannon fire, and the constant threat of injury—tested soldiers’ courage and forced them to adapt quickly or perish. For many, survival depended as much on luck as on skill or bravery.

Life in Camp

When not engaged in battle, soldiers spent most of their time in camp, where daily life was marked by monotony, discomfort, and disease. Camps were often overcrowded and unsanitary, creating ideal conditions for illness. James I. Robertson notes that disease killed more soldiers than combat, with ailments such as dysentery, typhoid, and pneumonia spreading rapidly.² Despite these hardships, soldiers developed strong bonds with their comrades. Letters from home, religious services, and shared routines helped maintain morale. Camp life also offered moments of leisure—card games, singing, and storytelling—that provided brief respite from the grim realities of war.

Medical Care and Suffering

Medical care during the Civil War was rudimentary and frequently overwhelmed by the sheer number of casualties. Surgeons lacked modern knowledge of infection, and antiseptic practices were not yet standard. As a result, wounds that might be treatable today often proved fatal. Amputations were common, performed quickly and without adequate pain management. Drew Gilpin Faust emphasizes that the scale of suffering and death forced Americans to confront mortality in new ways, reshaping cultural attitudes toward dying and remembrance.³ Field hospitals, often little more than makeshift tents or commandeered buildings, struggled to provide even basic care. Many soldiers endured prolonged pain, and countless others died far from home.

Conclusion

The experiences of Civil War soldiers reveal a world defined by hardship, resilience, and profound emotional strain. Combat exposed them to unprecedented violence, while camp life tested their endurance through boredom, disease, and deprivation. Medical care offered limited relief, leaving many to suffer or die from treatable wounds. Yet amid these challenges, soldiers forged deep connections and developed a sense of purpose that sustained them. Their stories remind us that the Civil War was not only a political and military struggle but also a deeply human one, lived out in the bodies and minds of those who fought it.

Bibliography

1. Linderman, Gerald F. Embattled Courage: The Experience of Combat in the American Civil War. New York: Free Press, 1987.
2. Robertson, James I. Soldiers Blue and Gray. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1988.
3. Faust, Drew Gilpin. This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2008.

Response: I noticed that CoPilot does not actually let you highlight and scroll/drag at the same time to copy a full response, but you can still CTRL+A to highlight all and copy into a document.

When actually transferred into a Word document, it does not reach a full two-pages, and the spacing/font/size would need to be adjusted to match Chicago-Turabian. The actual content of the essay appears accurate. I’m sort of impressed/terrified that it developed three separate subtopics without those being specifically prompted. It’s also interesting to me that it cited three books from 1987, 1988, and 2008, rather than from online articles or recent e-books. I wouldn’t expect these books to be online in full, especially without paywalls, so I wonder if the information comes from published academic articles that originally cited from these books, so the AI cited the book.

I ended up generating the image separately, as it initially produced an AI “screenshot” of an illegible two-page essay on the Civil War (above; AI-Generated Image #1), despite it claiming to be of “a historically accurate Union soldier from the U.S. Civil War standing at ease in full uniform with kepi hat, blue wool coat, rifle at his side, and a neutral outdoor background.” I chose to use this description to generate a second image:

This second image isn’t bad. If anything, it’s realistic and has a lot of small details that would make it believable – clothing creases, wrinkles, veins. There are a few small tells that this isn’t a real person. For example, I don’t think the ears match, and the second button from the top is shifted out of line with the others to be visible behind the carrier bag strap. It could just be my perspective, but the head seems more forward or slightly larger than the rest of the body, which is a bit unsettling. Because I know that this image is AI-generated, I can’t know what my response would be to seeing this image in the wilds of the internet. That is very well why I am trying to find things wrong with it that show it’s AI, because I don’t want AI to be so indistinguishable. If I saw this image from a Google search, I might very well believe that this was a staged photoshoot of a reenactor.

Prompt #2 (Transcription): Transcribe the handwriting in this document. Note any illegible words as “[illegible]”.

Original: Page 470, Fredericksburg National Cemetery Register · Fredericksburg National Cemetery

Product:

Page Header:
470 RECORD BOOK of

Column Headers:
Record No. | Name | Rank | Regiment | Date of Death | Grave Mark | Remarks

Response: I thank whichever 2018 Digital History student transcribed this page previously and included it in the metadata so that I had something to compare the AI’s results to. However, I didn’t end up needing the real transcription, as CoPilot only read the printed words, and not even all of them. My guess is that it had issues with the formatting of the column headings, and the handwriting is maybe a little light, but still perfectly legible. I feel like any person would be able to understand what this document includes from the headings. Even just by briefly looking at the image, I can provide more information than the actual transcriptionist of the document provided in the metadata. Transcription isn’t CoPilot’s specialty, but I’m surprised with how badly it did. I’m also kind of glad that it failed, because doing transcription is one of my favorite things, so it means I still have a usable skill.

Overall, AI still has a way to go with producing original content and transcription. It excels at summarizing topics, sometimes even with accuracy, but I would not trust it with really detail oriented requests.