Buster vs. Dad – An AI Perspective

Buster and Dad in their early teens. 

I decided to use AI to help identify some of my unknown family photos. The first few results weren’t great—a boy was labeled as a girl, another as a man, a scratch was mistaken for a clothesline, and an attempt to create a collage ended with images that didn’t look like my family at all. But when I started using OpenAI’s ChatGPT to compare photos side by side, I finally began to get useful results.

Buster or Dad?

I have several children in photos that have always been in question—were they my father or his brother? My cousin, who originally had the photo collection, labeled all of them as “Buster.” Buster was my dad’s older brother, Hairston Albritton Bryan, born in 1906. My father, Whit Criswell Bryan, was born in 1920. While I’d already guessed that some of the photos were of Dad, there was always a bit of doubt. AI helped confirm what I’d suspected.

I started by uploading one of the questionable photos and simply asked, “Can you date this?”

AI responded with an analysis of the child’s clothing, shoes, and the overall photographic style—pointing out the sepia tone and the formal studio setup. Based on these features, the photo was dated to somewhere between 1910 and 1920.

I followed up with: “This has been identified as my Uncle Buster, who was born in 1906, but could it actually be my father, born in 1920?”

The response was clear:

“While it could be your father, the styling strongly favors your Uncle Buster (born 1906). Everything about the child’s appearance, the clothing, and the studio portrait setup points to the 1910–1912 range.”

I decided to go a step further. I uploaded another photo and asked, “Could this be the same child?”

AI responded by analyzing the clothing, backdrop, and photo mount, estimating a time frame of circa 1910-1912, which lines up closely with Buster’s childhood years.

It noted that both children had oval-shaped faces, strong jawlines, and similar eye placement and spacing. The resemblance was plausible, especially when considering age progression, fashion trends, and the photographic style. If the child in both photos was Buster, the timeline worked.

Next, I shared teen photos of Buster to see if there was a visible connection. AI noted strong continuity in features—especially eye shape, nose, and jawline—linking the child in the earlier photos to the teen in the later ones.

I added this photo and asked, “What do you think of this photo of my father—Buster’s younger brother, born in 1920? My cousin said it was Buster, but I know it’s Dad.” 

AI responded with, "The boy is dressed in a classic sailor suit with a wide collar and checkered tie, a style popular from 1915 to the early 1930s. His dark stockings and leather shoes complete the look. His straight, bowl-style haircut with a trimmed fringe was typical for boys in the early 1920s, especially before school age. Based on these details, the image likely dates to around 1923–1925, which fits perfectly for your father, born in 1920."

So I shared three known childhood photos of my father, and AI came back with, "These known photos of your father clearly show a consistent progression from babyhood to adolescence, with strong physical matches to the sailor-suit portrait. Between the features and the timeline, it’s very safe to say the child in the sailor suit is your father—not Buster."

I shared three more photos, thought to be of Dad or Buster, and received the expected results.  

Dad - Whit Criswell Bryan

Buster's Baby Photo
Dad on a Donkey

Comparing Tools and Doing My Own Research

All of the photo analysis and comparisons in this article were generated using OpenAI’s ChatGPT. I also tried Anthropic’s Claude. Claude was more cautious. It provided similar comparisons of facial features and timelines, but was less willing to commit—recommending a second look and suggesting I talk to family members. 

And while ChatGPT provided useful insights, I didn’t accept everything without question. I did my own research to confirm the clothing and hairstyle information, especially since sources weren’t cited. After conducting my own research, I generally agreed with ChatGPT’s timelines for hairstyles and clothing; however, the sources I found indicated that these trends didn’t follow strict cutoffs—there was more overlap and variation than the AI responses suggested.

Final Thoughts

This process was a good reminder of the value of revisiting old photos with new tools and a fresh perspective. AI won’t solve every mystery, but in this case, it helped me ask better questions and, more importantly, confirm what I’d long suspected.

If you want to know more about the families I research, click here to like my Facebook page, where you will see each post and other genealogical finds. 

Diana

© 2025

Sources

Edward Zapletal, Publisher and Editor, More Dating Old Photographs 1840-1929 (Toronto: Moorshead Publishing, 2011).

Historic Boys' Clothing, "United States Sailor Suits: The 1920s," web page, Historic Boys' Clothing (https://histclo.com/style/suit/sailor/sailorus20.html : accessed 22 April 2025).

Jo B. Paoletti, “Clothing and Gender in America: Children’s Fashions, 1890-1920.” Signs 13, no. 1 (1987): 136–43 (http://www.jstor.org/stable/3174031: accessed 14 April 2025). 

Maryanne Dolan, Vintage Clothing 1880-1980 (Alabama: Books Americana Inc., 1995).  

Special Collections at the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center, "Saluting the Sailor Suit," blog entry, 2 July 2022, Primary Selections from Special Collections, blog (https://blogs.davenportlibrary.com/sc/2022/07/02/saluting-the-sailor-suit/ : accessed 22 April 2025).

TPR, "The Bowl Haircut," blog entry, 2 January 2020, The Past Recedes, blog (https://tpr76797.wordpress.com/2020/01/02/the-bowl-haircut/ : accessed 22 April 2025).