I totally agree with your predictions! I work with clients researching their family history and AI is my new research assistant. Currently I am using ChatGPT and Gemini and Perplexity. It has totally transformed the way I can transcribe handwritten Wills and documents and compare a mass of records and data! Just unbelievable! Many genealogy friends have said they are "scared" of AI or they think its "cheating" ... honestly try it is such a help with brickwalls, and writing family history for clients!!! Well done getting people to embrace AI !!!
Denyse, I like your predictions. I've used AI for several years for the things you've mentioned and I continue to refine the way I use it to help me be creative. I recently leveraged Perplexity to help determine the history of land ownership my 2x great-grandfather had. I had all the property and deed records, and AI helped me understand what it all meant. Tremendously helpful. I also look forward to the debate between "us" and "them" being over. You are right - we can be both.
Such a great use case! Every time I touch on the stepping away from professional genealogy, I get a flood of DMs and emails from people relieved that someone finally said something.
Just beginning the assistant interaction. Pulled a group of un-indexed deed images from Family Search and asked Gemini for help, one-by-one. Got a terrific synthesis with implications of chronology - both property and possession - and possible suggestions about transitions. Clarified family and generational relationships for the individuals involved. Did not expect such helpful insights as guides for follow-up research. Just an initial dip of the toe in the pond.
Thank you, Denyse, for your post. I agree with your predictions. I use AI as a research assistant, and it has provided insights that I had not previously considered. I look forward to your future posts.
I think it’s inevitable that we use AI more, and I have used it myself to help design work processes, and answer simple queries. But I’m still sceptical. For me the process of research is as much fun as the writing: I’m in it for the journey as much as for the destination. I love searching for sources, poring over their meaning and still get a thrill when I finally work things out. It’s the same with writing. I love engaging with my research and figuring out how I’m going to structure a piece of writing. AI’s great, don’t get me wrong, and it’s revolutionising how organisations like Ancestry and Family Search present their material. But in the end AI is just another productivity tool. It allows you to do more, faster. But I spent my entire professional life in organisations where “more and faster” was their creed. But more and faster doesn’t necessarily mean better, or more satisfying. I’ll use AI on the very edges of what I do, but I enjoy even the tedious parts of family history. I’d rather not surrender that pleasure to AI just yet.
1. AI assistants. In fact, just like you need Ancestry or Family Search, you will have to learn to use AI to be successful. I remember starting out my Genealogy journey and hearing from the "old-timers" how they had to write to an archive and wait weeks if not months for a response. They were hesitant about email and computers. But the old truisms still hold, AI can and will get things wrong, so due dilligence is still expected. But now I can argue with my AI assistant and that is exciting. 2. Story Explosion. I see AI as an equalizer of sorts. Good writing is as hard as it is fun. AI helps overcome that. But story telling is as old as the spoken word, AI can help the Storyteller in us all to get the words out. It will be exciting to see how this adds to finding connections. 3. I am not sure if the Identity debate will end or if it will likely transform. AI Genealogy vs "Pure" perhaps. But just like cell phones (pocket computers) have change the way we think and work so will AI if not more so. Exciting times ahead. This makes me think of Fahrenheit 451 where everyone had to memorize a book, a story, so it could be told. Now everyone now has access to the data and means to memorize and reveal its meaning, now is the time to learn your stories and present them to the world.
I totally agree with your predictions! I work with clients researching their family history and AI is my new research assistant. Currently I am using ChatGPT and Gemini and Perplexity. It has totally transformed the way I can transcribe handwritten Wills and documents and compare a mass of records and data! Just unbelievable! Many genealogy friends have said they are "scared" of AI or they think its "cheating" ... honestly try it is such a help with brickwalls, and writing family history for clients!!! Well done getting people to embrace AI !!!
I can feel the enthusiasm jumping off the screen!
Denyse, I like your predictions. I've used AI for several years for the things you've mentioned and I continue to refine the way I use it to help me be creative. I recently leveraged Perplexity to help determine the history of land ownership my 2x great-grandfather had. I had all the property and deed records, and AI helped me understand what it all meant. Tremendously helpful. I also look forward to the debate between "us" and "them" being over. You are right - we can be both.
Such a great use case! Every time I touch on the stepping away from professional genealogy, I get a flood of DMs and emails from people relieved that someone finally said something.
Just beginning the assistant interaction. Pulled a group of un-indexed deed images from Family Search and asked Gemini for help, one-by-one. Got a terrific synthesis with implications of chronology - both property and possession - and possible suggestions about transitions. Clarified family and generational relationships for the individuals involved. Did not expect such helpful insights as guides for follow-up research. Just an initial dip of the toe in the pond.
Thank you, Denyse, for your post. I agree with your predictions. I use AI as a research assistant, and it has provided insights that I had not previously considered. I look forward to your future posts.
I think it’s inevitable that we use AI more, and I have used it myself to help design work processes, and answer simple queries. But I’m still sceptical. For me the process of research is as much fun as the writing: I’m in it for the journey as much as for the destination. I love searching for sources, poring over their meaning and still get a thrill when I finally work things out. It’s the same with writing. I love engaging with my research and figuring out how I’m going to structure a piece of writing. AI’s great, don’t get me wrong, and it’s revolutionising how organisations like Ancestry and Family Search present their material. But in the end AI is just another productivity tool. It allows you to do more, faster. But I spent my entire professional life in organisations where “more and faster” was their creed. But more and faster doesn’t necessarily mean better, or more satisfying. I’ll use AI on the very edges of what I do, but I enjoy even the tedious parts of family history. I’d rather not surrender that pleasure to AI just yet.
1. AI assistants. In fact, just like you need Ancestry or Family Search, you will have to learn to use AI to be successful. I remember starting out my Genealogy journey and hearing from the "old-timers" how they had to write to an archive and wait weeks if not months for a response. They were hesitant about email and computers. But the old truisms still hold, AI can and will get things wrong, so due dilligence is still expected. But now I can argue with my AI assistant and that is exciting. 2. Story Explosion. I see AI as an equalizer of sorts. Good writing is as hard as it is fun. AI helps overcome that. But story telling is as old as the spoken word, AI can help the Storyteller in us all to get the words out. It will be exciting to see how this adds to finding connections. 3. I am not sure if the Identity debate will end or if it will likely transform. AI Genealogy vs "Pure" perhaps. But just like cell phones (pocket computers) have change the way we think and work so will AI if not more so. Exciting times ahead. This makes me think of Fahrenheit 451 where everyone had to memorize a book, a story, so it could be told. Now everyone now has access to the data and means to memorize and reveal its meaning, now is the time to learn your stories and present them to the world.