Technology around the world is advancing at a rapid pace. Extensive information is available at the tips of our fingers. Glasses can show people an augmented reality. Devices within a home can be programmed to follow routines with a simple tap. And for genealogists and family historians, the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) has been applied to family history to create AI genealogy.
AI is a topic that brings both excitement and concern. When used responsibly and ethically, AI can have a great impact for good, making records and family information more accessible to people all over the world. Let’s dive into more about what this technology is, how it has been affecting the genealogy field already, some common concerns, and what AI genealogy has to offer.
A Few Quick Definitions—What Is AI, and How Does It Work?
AI, or artificial intelligence, is computer programming that attempts to mimic human intelligence. AI can do things like recognize images, create something new using patterns learned from something old, and change information it gives based on what it receives—as if it were making a decision.
AI technology can be used to do lots of tasks quickly, see patterns that not all people would spot easily, and do tasks that are too, well—boring—for humans to want to do them.
There are a lot of technical words that come up when talking about AI. Click each word below to see an explanation that may help demystify it for you:
How it works: A programmer takes information from a computer and corrects any mistakes it made. The program is given the corrections and told to look for adjustments to its programming that will help it make fewer errors in the future.
How it works: This specialized AI uses databases of language patterns and word lists to help it interpret normal text and conversations, rather than being limited to computer code. This type of AI can also be used to respond conversationally.
How it works: A computer looks at documents or images and uses advanced programming and extensive databases to read the text, usually giving a typed or searchable version of it that is easier to read and find.
How it works: AI usually is programmed to connect to large databases of images, text, and information. Using patterns it sees in the old content, interpretations it has made, and more, the AI can piece together something that is new.
How Can AI Be Used for Genealogy?
While the science behind artificial intelligence might seem complicated, understanding how AI can help in genealogy is not. This technological innovation can be quite helpful in your family history search and also in learning about your family.
Here are some things many organizations and genealogists use artificial intelligence for with genealogy work:
- Transcribing records: Records are difficult to search manually, and many are old and difficult to read. AI can help transcribe record images—including those that are handwritten—so you can more easily search and read them.
- Analyzing images: Identifying faces in old photos has never been easier, thanks to artificial intelligence. AI is also used to organize, colorize, repair, and label photos.
- Matching data: If you’re looking for a specific person over multiple documents or databases, AI can help combine and search across datasets. This type of AI also helps provide record suggestions that may result in rich, additional details about an ancestor.
- Constructing family trees: AI can suggest relatives to add to a family tree, by identifying similar information and relationships.
- Telling stories: Stories help you know your family’s past, and with AI, you can breathe life into the past. AI can help transcribe recorded stories, transform dry details into a story or biographical format, and help suggest historical context for an ancestor’s life events. If you’re into augmented reality, it can even generate video or audio avatars of your ancestors.
- Translation: If your ancestors’ records or journals are in a different language than you speak, AI translation can help you get a first glimpse at the information they hold.
Can I Use ChatGPT for Genealogy?
You might’ve heard of the popular AI system called ChatGPT. Within the bounds of genealogy, people can use ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, and other generative AI systems to assist in writing family stories, generate illustrations, and ask general questions about the life of your ancestors.
Here are some questions you can ask generative AI programs to help with your family history:
- Can you help me interpret the text of a family document?
- Can you analyze surname origins and variations?
- What are some online databases where I can find historical records relevant to my family history?
- Can you help me contextualize the life of an ancestor within historical events and societal trends?
- I have a lot of genealogical data. Can you help me organize the data into a time line?
- Can you help me craft a story about a family member with the genealogy records I have?
Take full advantage of systems like ChatGPT! You can ask generative AI programs nearly anything, and you can even ask them to give you prompts and ideas for more things to ask and research.
Keep in mind that it is always best to carefully review results given to you by generative AI or an AI assistant. Any facts given to you should be checked carefully, and the results may need to be polished or refined. (See more about this later in this article.)
AI Genealogy Classes—Available Online for Free
The most recent RootsTech conference offered several classes and events about AI in genealogy, giving great insights you can use in your family history work. The purpose of RootsTech is to help you learn about and connect with everything out there that enhances your family history experience. A key experience of RootsTech is also the showcasing of the latest innovations for genealogy.
The classes below talk about many aspects of AI in genealogy, including tools available for enhancing photos, reports on advancements in record transcription, and systems for finding connections through DNA analysis.
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AI Being Used by Different Genealogy Organizations
With all the AI developments out there, it shouldn’t be a surprise that a lot of companies and organizations are using AI to further advance their own systems. Many of these companies attended the last RootsTech conference. Here are a few organizations that featured some of their latest AI technology:
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Concerns and Ethics with AI Genealogy
As mentioned, computers make mistakes. And, ultimately, AI can only do what it has been told to do. That is why using AI ethically and responsibly is important, as well as understanding its limitations. Here are some common concerns raised when discussing AI in genealogy and things you can do to address these concerns when using AI tools.
Accuracy of Information
Many genealogists make it a rule to check information and research given to them before adding it to compiled genealogies and family trees. This is especially a good rule to follow with AI-generated information. As AI technology grows and improves, its accuracy usually does as well, but AI still makes mistakes. Here are some tips for checking AI genealogy information:
- When AI matches data for you, review the information to make sure you agree it is a match.
- Always check the original image for a record when possible, even if you have an AI transcription of the record.
- Compare original images with repaired or colorized images to make sure you’re satisfied with the changes.
- Keep in mind that historical facts and stories generated by AI should be checked against original or reputable sources to ensure accuracy.
Be Aware of Copyright
When you use an AI tool, be sure to check how you can use the information it provides. When going beyond personal use, for example, you may want to know who owns the copyright for that material, how it can be shared, or if it is even copyright-able. Derivative works that don't properly cite or use sources according to the laws governing that content may infringe copyrighted material.
Protect Your Privacy
AI tools will sometimes use the information given to them to help improve their algorithms or generate content for other users. This can be advantageous for future users of the tool, but it may also pose a privacy risk, depending on how that tool is using the information. If you are putting information into an AI tool, check the settings options and privacy policies (the same as you would any place you are putting personal or private information). You likely want to be sure of how that information is going to be used or shared and make informed choices about what you input.
Lack of Transparency
Some AI tools do not list the sources of their information, but this lack of transparency is improving with many AI technology providers. It will generally be easier for you to fact check information if you use a tool that lists its sources. Depending on the project, however, you may also be able to verify the information by looking for alternative sources online.
Companies that use AI tools will also often put markers on the results to let someone know it was generated by AI and how thoroughly it might have been checked already.
Possibility of Bias
What an AI tool delivers is usually only as good as the information it has available. This means that if its sample set is limited or if its samples have biases, it will too. For example, summaries of information will only be able to include what was available to summarize. Information about different cultures or demographics will be dependent on the sources the AI is pulling from. Since AI doesn’t actually think for itself, and doesn’t have morals or a perfect grasp of language, its results should also always be screened for phrasing that might be undesirable.
Using AI Technology to Its Full Potential
Organizations and individuals all around the world have been and are currently using AI to help millions of people research their family history and make deeper connections with their family’s past. When providers and users of AI technology use it ethically and responsibly, it can have a great impact in the genealogy field.
Keeping Up to Date with the Latest Advances
As technology advances, so does the world of genealogy. This article just scratches the surface of what artificial intelligence offers to help you discover more about those who came before you. FamilySearch wants to help you learn all you can about the ways to uncover your family history and secrets of your past.
To learn more about artificial intelligence in genealogy, be sure to check in each year to see new AI-related classes from RootsTech.
What is RootsTech?
RootsTech is a place to learn, be inspired, and make connections through family history. Hosted by FamilySearch and sponsored by other leading genealogy organizations, we have hundreds of expert classes, tips and tricks videos, and inspiring stories that can help you experience family history like never before. Visit our on-demand learning library or make plans to join us for our next virtual or in-person conference event.
