Digital roots: unlocking your past with AI

Posted on by ITPLD

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a field that sparks heated debates. It stirs emotions-some people fear or despise it, while others embrace it eagerly. Some start using AI but get poor results and give up. However, viewing AI as a tool designed to make our lives easier is our new reality. Like most tools, effective utilization requires skill, practice and a thorough understanding of its capabilities and limitations.

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USING AI TOOLS FOR GENEALOGY RESEARCH

April 2025 | By Maria R. 

Even if you know nothing about how AI is used for genealogy and have never used AI platforms, chances are the technology has already benefited you more than once. Researching family history involves working with vast amounts of information. AI algorithms can quickly process and organize these massive datasets, saving countless hours of manual work.

So, it should come as no surprise that some genealogy platforms have been using AI technology for years. A prime example is the rapid indexing of the 1950 U.S. Census records. A collaborative effort between FamilySearch, Ancestry, and the National Archives, using AI handwriting recognition, made the index available on the very day of its release. Back in 2012, when the 1940 census was released, thousands of volunteers worked for 123 days to produce a basic index.

AI Generated

Genealogy Platforms AI Features

Leading genealogy platforms like FamilySearch, Ancestry, and MyHeritage are increasingly incorporating AI-driven tools.

FamilySearch utilizes AI to refine search results by suggesting related records, extracting relevant information, and even generating source citations.

Ancestry is developing its AI Assistant, currently in beta testing, to answer family history and DNA-related queries, offer research suggestions, and guide users through their genealogical journey.

MyHeritage provides a suite of AI-powered features, including Photo Tools, PhotoDater, AI Record Finder, and AI Biographer, offering varying levels of access through free and paid subscriptions.

Chatbots

If you want to dive deeper and go beyond genealogy-specific tools, a wide range of chatbots such as ChatGPT, Claude, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, and Perplexity are available to assist you. While premium versions exist, all provide free access for initial exploration. However, these free versions may have limitations in functionality, and some require creating an account before use. The range of tasks AI can assist with is incredibly broad, and this field is evolving rapidly. Here are several ways AI enhances genealogical research.

•Transcription and Translation

AI tools can transcribe text directly from images and convert handwritten or foreign-language records into readable text and even translate them, making once inaccessible documents more useful. So, if you possess a diary from a great-grandmother written in Polish or a century-old letter from a distant relative and struggle with the handwriting or archaic language, AI can transcribe, clarify difficult passages, and summarize the content, offering deeper insights into your ancestors’ lives.

•Data Extraction

Old newspapers contain obituaries, marriage announcements, and other family-related news, and AI can transcribe articles word-for-word, summarize them, or extract specific details about a particular ancestor, saving researchers hours of manual work.

•Advanced Search Capabilities

AI can help genealogists locate the right records quickly and efficiently. If you’re trying to find an ancestor who arrived in New York in 1881, AI can suggest which immigration, passenger, and naturalization records to search, guiding you to the most relevant databases. Similarly, if you need to identify the Catholic parish for a specific town, AI can analyze historical geographical data and provide information on where records for that area are likely to be stored. Chatbots like Perplexity and other AI search assistants not only answer questions but also provide citations and direct links to the sources they used, allowing researchers to verify information and explore additional records.

•Educational Tool

AI is great in helping to clarify family relationships, explore name variations, and provide historical context. If you’re unsure how you are related to your great-grandmother’s niece, AI can explain it in simple terms. It can also assist in finding alternative spellings and variations of names, which is particularly useful when searching for ancestors in records that may have inconsistent or phonetic spellings. Beyond names and dates, genealogy is about understanding how ancestors lived, and AI can provide rich social history insights. This gives you a more complete picture of your ancestors’ experiences.

•Organizational Tool

AI can be an invaluable organizational tool for genealogists, helping to structure research and manage vast amounts of information more effectively, and assist you when research hits a dead end. If you’re unsure where to start, AI can generate a focused genealogy research plan, outlining which records to explore and suggesting logical next steps.

•Creative Writing Assistant

After spending countless hours researching your ancestors, you may want to share their stories with other relatives. AI can help bring your ancestors to life by weaving together information from family trees, historical records, documents, and photos to create well-written stories. In mere seconds, AI can generate biographies, memoirs, or even fictionalized family sagas, turning your raw genealogical research into vivid storytelling.

Concerns

Despite its advantages, using AI in genealogy also has some drawbacks and limitations that should be considered:

  • AI models are not always reliable and can sometimes hallucinate (the term to describe AI errors)
  • limitations in accessing restricted or rare archives
  • lack of contextual understanding (may incorrectly link individuals with the same surname)
  • privacy and data security concerns
  • bias
  • copywrite
  • high cost and environmental concerns
  • citation issues
  • negative impact on artists and other professions

AI is a valuable tool for genealogists. You might start integrating it into your research process as a powerful assistant. In the past, people had to learn how to use calculators, computers, and now it’s time to master ChatGPT and other AI models. And while we, as genealogists, are accustomed to dealing with the dust of history, let’s shake it off, step into a new era and harness AI in our family research.

RESOURCES

AI and Genealogy: A Practical Guide to Summarizing, Transcribing, and Translating Historical Documents

by Thomas MacEntee

Thanks to cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence, genealogists now have powerful new tools at their fingertips. From hobbyist family historians to seasoned professionals, this technology can truly turbocharge your workflow and open new research frontiers. 

This book is here to help you cut through the hype and get right to the heart of what AI can do for your genealogy projects. The author explores how these new tools work, walk you through today’s best AI platforms, and lay out clear, practical strategies so you can quickly start applying them to your own research.

– Amazon description

 

Tips for writing effective prompts

To get more accurate and helpful answers from AI chatbots, the key is in how you phrase your questions. A prompt is a simple text-based instruction that guides the chatbot on what to do. Mastering the art of prompting can make a huge difference in getting clear, accurate, and useful responses. Here are some expert tips from a seasoned genealogist Carole McCulloch:  

GENAI Prompting Technique:   

  • G: Goal – State your objective  
  • E: Era – Specify the period  
  • N: Names – Provide names  
  • A: Area – Define the context  
  • I: Instructions – Give tasks  

You can find more information about prompts and how to use them in genealogy research in this video: Genealogy 2.0: Embracing AI Opportunities in Genealogy