Students Use Generative AI To Turn WWI Diaries Into Prize‑Winning Films

Students at Penair School in Truro have used generative artificial intelligence to transform World War One diaries written by Cornish soldiers into short, moving films. The work formed part of a prize-winning local history project that brought first‑hand accounts — and the people behind them — back into the classroom and community.

Bringing Local Stories Back To Life

The pupils based their films on diaries kept by men from Cornwall, many of whom had worked as tin and copper miners before enlistment and were later recruited to tunnelling units because of their mining expertise. The project gave students access to primary sources and the technology to visualise them in ways a typical school production might not afford.

John French: From Mine To Tunneller

One film drew on the journals of John French, a miner from Redruth. French emigrated to Arizona in 1913 after a fall in tin prices but returned to Cornwall to enlist when war broke out. In 1915 he joined the 251st Tunnelling Company, a unit that included many Cornish miners because of their tunnelling experience.

French's diaries, discovered years after his death from tuberculosis in 1929 in a family loft, are now preserved at the Cornish archive centre Kresen Kernow in Redruth. Pupils used his detailed entries alongside carefully written visual prompts — describing trench interiors, backgrounds and facial expressions — to feed a generative AI programme that produced the film scenes.

“For someone who left school at 14 to work in a mine his writing was amazing - he was well loved by his 10 siblings and because of these diaries he'll be well remembered,”

Penny Picton, French’s niece, visited the school to talk about her uncle and the discovery of his papers and said she was moved to tears by the finished film.

Support, Recognition And Reflection

The films were part of Penair’s entry for the Malcolm Doolin Prize for Local History research, awarded by the Western Front Association — a competition the school won. Local historian and filmmaker Tony Smith, who encountered French’s diaries at a community talk, supported the pupils throughout the project.

“There's a lot of bad press around AI and rightly so, it will probably take lots of people's jobs. I wanted to find uses that can be beneficial and what could be a better use than bringing history to life. Schools don't have the resources like actors and special effects to make films but AI gives pupils those tools.”

Year 11 pupil Riley, who worked on the John French film, highlighted the diary’s final recorded entry from 1917: “Rather quiet on the lines today, no airplanes due to a thick mist.” Riley said the diary ends after that entry; French returned home, was awarded the Military Cross in 1918, and later died of tuberculosis in 1929.

Tina Turuelo, a history teacher at Penair, emphasised the value of the local connection:

“If it's somebody's grandfather or it happened in the same town they live in, or if they can see a grave in a churchyard, it removes the distance and brings the story home.”

Fifteen‑year‑old Ella Rose made a film inspired by Cornish woman Nanny Trembath and described the practical limits of current AI tools: students must supply detailed shot prompts and even then output can be imperfect. She added that, despite concerns about AI on social media, the technology here was used to broaden access to historic stories.

The project demonstrates how schools can combine primary sources, local heritage and new technology to create engaging history learning while prompting discussion about the ethical and technical limits of AI.