Unveiling Your Ancestry with Artificial Intelligence

According to Similarweb, the 13th most searchable term on Google in 2023 was ChatGPT. I predict it to be in the top 10, if not higher, in 2024.

As we recall the emergence of social media as the new frontier in internet technology, AI now occupies a similar space. Whether we embrace or fear it, AI is a permanent fixture, and we've only begun to scratch the surface of its potential.

As a genealogist and family historian, I'm always eager to streamline and enhance family research. AI may be just what the doctor ordered.

While the term "Artificial Intelligence" (AI) has gained recent attention, it's not a new concept. Some of us have been waiting, sometimes reluctantly, for AI to become a part of our everyday world. Frankly, I'm about a year and a half overdue in stepping into the ChatGPT realm.

Although ChatGPT has become part of our technical terminology, it's not the only AI tool used in genealogy. Platforms like Ancestry® have been utilizing AI for years.

When the 1950 Census was released, Ancestry® utilized proprietary AI handwriting recognition technology to index the data in just nine days. It's hard to imagine, isn't it?

Now, let's explore the future of genealogy research and how family historians can leverage artificial intelligence for their investigations.

How is Artificial Technology changing genealogy research?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) continues to revolutionize genealogical research, offering powerful tools that can significantly enhance how genealogists work. Here's how AI will improve genealogical research and streamline your workload:

• AI excels at analyzing vast amounts of information, facilitating the discovery of new connections and relationships in family history research.

• One key AI technology, Natural Language Processing (NLP), exemplified by tools like ChatGPT and Gemini, enables machines to interpret and understand human language. This simplifies the extraction of data from historical documents, saving researchers valuable time by identifying names, dates, and locations.

• Machine learning algorithms can address gaps in family trees and genetic patterns, predicting relationships and uncovering patterns that might elude human researchers.

• Leading genealogy companies like MyHeritage and Ancestry® have developed AI-powered tools that transcribe documents, suggest related records, and even animate ancestors in photos—a bit eerie, yet undeniably captivating. As these tools become more commonplace, many of us will likely grow accustomed to

• However, it's crucial to recognize that while AI offers numerous benefits, not all findings will be accurate. Fact-checking remains essential for ensuring the reliability of research results.

• Thanks to AI, genealogy research is undergoing a profound transformation. It wouldn't be surprising to see an influx of AI tools specifically tailored for genealogical research. Likewise, the integration of genealogy plugins on platforms like ChatGPT seems increasingly plausible.

• By responsibly leveraging AI technologies, genealogists can unlock new opportunities for analyzing family history and making exciting discoveries.

Here are some specific genealogy tasks AI can help researchers with:

• Provide research assistance

• Summarize and extract information from a document

• Colorize black and white photos

• Translate records to another language

• Transcribe and index newspaper articles

• Transcribe and index handwritten records

• Create ancestry biographies

OCR

OCR, short for Optical Character Recognition, utilizes technology to extract text from images and convert it into editable text. Although OCR may be unfamiliar to some, it represents an early form of AI and has been in use for decades.

Applications such as Newspapers.com leverage OCR to index newspaper articles, offering invaluable assistance in family history research. Through OCR, I've uncovered both fascinating and less-than-glamorous stories of my ancestors. It’s those stories that add color to our findings.

Moreover, Google Lens harnesses the same OCR technology to remarkable effect. Imagine traveling to Italy and encountering a tombstone inscribed in Italian—a situation where language barriers could impede understanding. With Google Lens, capturing an image of the tombstone enables instant extraction and translation of the text into English. I've personally used it to decipher and translate a will, showcasing its utility beyond traditional genealogical research.

Popular AI tools

Ancestry®

Ancestry® has been utilizing AI for quite some time with its hints in the form of little leaf icons. Ancestry famously used Ancestry Proprietary Artificial Intelligence - Powered handwriting recognition technology to process over 150 million census records in just 9 days.

Ancestry® continues to employ AI tools for historical immersion. You can now enhance your ancestor's story by comparing historical information with the same historical time of your ancestor's events, for example, what baby toys children were playing with during the time your ancestry was born and what the town was like at the time your grandparents married.

DNA Communities, a DNA AI feature, can drill down to a 10-mile square radius where your ancestors lived 2 to 200 years ago.

Using AI technology, Ancestry® has indexed over 16 billion newspaper records, and based on your tree information, you can now get hints to those records that go beyond just obituaries and marriage announcements. Think of stories like a medal your great-uncle won in a trek meet or the birthday party your great-grandmother attended in 1920.

FamilySearch

The free genealogy platform FamilySearch has introduced LabSearch, an experimental toolset currently undergoing testing. LabSearch offers members free access to these tools and welcomes user feedback. One notable artificial intelligence application within LabSearch is called Full Tech Search. By leveraging handwriting recognition and OCR technology, Full Tech Search allows users to search for any name appearing within images. For instance, instead of solely searching for the family testator in a probate record, users can identify other family members mentioned in the will as well."

MyHeritage

• AI Record Finder™ enables users to search for records within an AI-powered chatbot. By providing the AI with additional information, users can specify their search criteria. The AI Record Finder™ will then suggest additional information needed to refine the search. Additionally, the tool conveniently saves users' searches for future reference, allowing them to pick up where they left off.

• My Biography™ is an AI tool designed to create biographical stories of ancestors. Users have two options: Standard, which generates a story based solely on provided data, and Enhanced, which utilizes historical details to create a more immersive narrative experience.

• DeepStory creates videos by extracting details from biographies. Users can customize the language and accent to match their ancestor's hometown. The resulting video simulates a first-person experience, with the ancestor depicted in animated form, speaking directly to the viewer.

• Photos - The photo tool offers advanced editing capabilities including repair, enhancement, colorization, and animation. While the animation feature can be somewhat eerie, it produces remarkably realistic results, animating ancestors' photos to simulate movements such as head turning and blinking.

  Storied

  Another genealogy site where you can not only create family trees and collect records but also go beyond traditional family members by incorporating pets and friends into the story-making application. allowing you to capture a more comprehensive picture of your life and relationships.

  Storyasist - an AI tool designed to create stories based on the memories and information provided by users. While it offers a fun and creative way to generate narratives, users may need to provide additional prompting to ensure factual accuracy. Additionally, the platform has recently launched StoriedBooks, enabling users to create and print personalized books based on their family stories and memories.

AI tools that focus on interactions with the deceased

Emerging technologies now allow for the creation of chatbots that replicate the personality of deceased loved ones using social media data such as images, voice recordings, and posts. While this concept may initially raise ethical and emotional concerns, it offers the potential for grieving individuals to interact with virtual representations of their loved ones, providing comfort and continuity in their absence.

Additionally, lifelike avatars can be created from videos of pre-interviews and recordings, offering a tangible presence for grieving individuals to interact with. These avatars are designed to closely resemble the deceased individual, providing a sense of connection and solace to their loved ones.

Furthermore, there are apps available that enable users to be interviewed and preserve their memories for future generations. By capturing personal stories and experiences, these apps offer a way to immortalize one's legacy and ensure that their memories are cherished for years to come.

While these technologies raise complex ethical and emotional questions, they also offer opportunities for individuals to cope with loss and preserve the memories of their loved ones in innovative ways.

AI Photo editing

There’s a plethora of AI photo editing tools that perform tasks such as background removal and replacement, Blur image enhancers, image orientation that can isolate parts of the image and move them or remove them from the original photo, colorizing, animating, and changing them into avatars.

I can only imagine my grandmother as a punk rock avatar. You can also stretch an image to a new size and clear up skin blemishes. This can all be done with the click of the mouse.

Here are some Artificial Intelligence photo tools and ways they can be used for genealogy:

• Google Photos: A free tool that uses Magic Editor to edit and enhance your photos like a pro. You can isolate images from a photo and reorient them for a better experience. Let’s say your grandmother was blocking the Eiffel Tower. With Magic Editor, you can reposition your grandmother to the side and it will recreate the entire image of the Eiffel Tower.

• Fotor: Object removal: Not just limited to power lines and other distracting images. you can remove major scratches or tears across the photo.

• Hitpaw: Noise reduction: Especially valuable for old photos with significant grain or blur, reducing noise can make facial features and details clearer.

  Background editing: For photos with damaged backgrounds that obscure parts of the subject, replacing them with a neutral background can enhance the focus on the individual.

• Luminar Neo: Portrait editing: While automatic enhancement might improve the overall look, portrait editing features like selective sharpening could potentially recover details in eyes, clothing, or other facial features.

• Remove.BG: Creating overlays: Isolating the individual from the background can be a stepping stone. By placing this cutout on a different background (potentially another photo from the same era), genealogists might gain context or recreate a clearer image.

• Canva Magic Edit: Color correction: Faded colors can obscure details. Automatic color correction might bring back some vibrancy, potentially revealing clothing details or facial expressions.

• Leonardo: Facial feature enhancement: Similar to Luminar Neo, sharpening specific facial features could aid in the recognition and identification of individuals in severely damaged portraits.

Unlocking Genealogy with ChatGPT - 3 Practical Use Cases and Successful Prompts

Hint: If you struggle with a prompt, just tell ChatGPT what you want to accomplish and ask it to generate a prompt for you. Make sure to tell it the way you want it to think, such as a genealogist or a family historian.

Census Comparison

Analyzing data from multiple census reports poses challenges for genealogists, as it involves sorting through vast amounts of information and reconciling discrepancies across various documents. 

Comparing data manually, especially using spreadsheets, can be time-consuming and prone to errors. Genealogists must meticulously cross-reference entries, account for spelling variations, and track changes in household compositions over time. 

This process demands patience and attention to detail to ensure accuracy.

Prompt: "Act like an experienced genealogist. Could you please provide a detailed summary of three different census reports for an individual named [Name], including all household members listed in each census?

 I would like the summary to encompass all available data from each census report, and I prefer the information to be presented in a tabular format for easy comparison." Here is the data from the 1880 census {insert data here}. Here is the 1900 census data: {insert data here}. Here is the data from the 1910 census: {insert data here}.

Also, provide me with discrepancies and suggestions for further research.

I copied and pasted the data from the census into the chatbot and got clear and structured results. This is a game-changer. The process was quick, and the summary put everything in perspective. If I had done this on my own, I may have missed one of the discrepancies that were listed.

Probate Extraction and Summarization

Reading old wills for genealogy presents challenges such as illegible handwriting, outdated language, and missing details. However, AI can assist by enhancing readability through digitization and transcription services (Transcrubus does this well). 

Additionally, AI-powered language models can help interpret outdated terminology and cross-reference historical records, speeding up the research process.

Prompt - Act like a genealogist. "Could you please provide a comprehensive summary of a will, extracting all relevant details about family members mentioned in the document? I'm particularly interested in understanding the relationships between the testator and the beneficiaries, as well as any other individuals mentioned, such as spouses, children, siblings, or other relatives. 

Additionally, I would like the summary to include any specific bequests or inheritances allocated to each family member. This information will be invaluable for my genealogical research, as it will help me piece together the familial connections and understand the distribution of the estate among the family members."

I took a screenshot of the will and uploaded that screenshot to Google Lens. Google Lens translated it into plain text. I copied and pasted that text into the prompt.

I was provided with the name and location of the testator and the names of all beneficiaries and their inheritance. It listed all family and nonfamily members from the will. I further prompted the chatbot to list all of the relationships to the testator.

It wasn’t perfect, but I was pleased with the results. Of course, I need to get a little granular, but this certainly would save me about an hour if I were to transcribe this manually.

Obituary Extraction

Summarizing long and obscure obituaries for genealogy can sometimes be tricky due to the volume of information and complexities in family relationships. AI aids by automatically extracting key details, like names and relationships, from obituaries.

 With natural language processing, genealogists can swiftly gather vital information, making research more efficient.

For the long obituaries where the relationships are obscure, ChatGPT can list all the survivors and their relationship to the deceased. Having a transcription in a simple-to-read summary speeds up the process and can be copied and pasted for future research.

Prompt: "Could you please provide a condensed summary of a lengthy obituary, focusing on key details such as the deceased's personal background, achievements, and significant life events? Additionally, I would like a detailed list of all family members mentioned in the obituary, including their relationships to the deceased (e.g., spouse, children, siblings, parents, etc.). 

Please ensure to include the location of the funeral home, cemetery, and any other pertinent information regarding the funeral arrangements. This comprehensive summary will assist me in understanding the familial connections and honoring the life of the deceased individual."

Once again, AI delivered almost accurate results. I am just scratching the surface of how Artificial Intelligence can assist and speed up my research process.

Give it a shot yourself and don’t be afraid of experimenting. Happy Searching!

My name is Patrick Huff and I am the founder and genealogist here at Branch Out Genealogy.

Through engaging research and captivating storytelling, we empower you to explore the past, branching beyond ancestors to create personalized genealogy experiences that foster family bonds and build lasting legacies.