How To Use AI in Your Family History Work: A Beginner’s Guide

From Skeptic to Advocate

In October 2023, I attended a virtual course taught by Steve Little, who is widely respected as one of the leading experts in family history research. This innovative online program included weekly video sessions where we could learn together, followed by smaller group discussions where we could practice what we had learned.

Like many researchers who have been tracing family trees for years, I was deeply skeptical about AI. My first encounters with “intelligent” computer systems happened years ago during my school days, with early programs like Cleverbot (a chatbot that often got confused), Peter Answers (which seemed more like a clever trick than actual intelligence), and Wolfram Alpha (a math tool that frequently gave unreliable results for algebra problems).

More recently, I’d heard of students turning in assignments written by AI without even bothering to review them. These papers often contained obvious signs of AI use, like phrases such as “I have not read the book directly, but based on online discussion…” This reinforced my belief that AI was just a shortcut for people unwilling to do the real work—certainly not something that could help with the careful, detailed research needed to accurately trace family histories. Why would I waste time on a system that might just make up information when I had real clients counting on my expertise?

I was about to discover how wrong I had been.

Understanding AI’s Role in Family History Research

I learned that AI was not a replacement for human expertise, but rather can serve as a helpful assistant. This difference is crucial to understand. Steve introduced us to different AI tools, including ChatGPT (from OpenAI) and Claude (from Anthropic). He explained the ethical considerations behind these different systems, including how they were trained and how they protect user information. This helped me understand why different AI systems have their own strengths and limitations. For example, I’ve found that ChatGPT is better at searching the web and finding general information, while Claude tends to be more precise when processing data if you give it detailed instructions.

The most successful ways to use AI in family history research take advantage of what AI does well, while recognizing what it can’t do. Let me share what I’ve learned from putting these tools to work.

Simple Ways to Use AI in Your Family History Research

1. Organizing Your Research Notes

One of my first successful experiments was creating a system that could take my research notes and organize them into family profiles that could then be converted into a format called GEDCOM. This project required a lot of trial and error. By the end of Steve Little’s course, I was able to demonstrate this system to my classmates, showing how AI could handle complex family history tasks when given the right guidance. While not perfect (it got about 80-90% of the information correctly organized), the system saved me significant time, allowing me to focus on checking and finalizing the work rather than doing all the tedious organizing manually.

How you can use this: Even if you’re not ready to build complex systems, you can ask AI to help organize your family history notes, standardize how you record information, and prepare your data for import into family tree software. Just remember to review everything the AI produces for accuracy.

2. AI as a Brainstorming Partner

AI can act as a thoughtful conversation partner. It can suggest different ways to look at your family history puzzles, help you think of new approaches, and spot patterns you might have missed.

How you can use this: When you hit a roadblock in your research, describe what you know about your ancestor and ask the AI to suggest other records you might check or different search strategies. For example: “My great-grandfather immigrated from Germany in the 1880s, but I can’t find him in passenger lists. What other types of records might help me determine when and where he arrived?”

3. Help with Source Citations

Properly documenting where you found each piece of information is essential in family history research, but formatting these citations can be confusing and time-consuming. AI excels at applying standard formatting rules to information.

How you can use this: Tell the AI what source you’re using (like a census record, birth certificate, or newspaper article) and provide the key details. Then ask it to format a proper citation for that source. You might say: “I found my grandmother in the 1940 US Census. She was Mary Johnson, living in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois. Can you help me write a proper citation for this?”

4. Creating And Maintaining Research Logs

Keeping track of the records you’ve  searched, even when that search is negative, is a best practice in family history, but many researchers struggle to maintain consistent logs.

How you can use this: Ask AI to create a template for tracking your research. Then, as you work, you can ask it to help you add new entries in a consistent format. This will help you avoid repeating searches and see patterns in your findings.

5. Photo Analysis Help

One of the most exciting ways to use AI in family history is analyzing old photographs. AI can help estimate when a photo was taken by examining clothing styles, hairstyles, photographic techniques, and other visual clues.

How you can use this: Describe or upload a family photo to an AI system and ask for help identifying the approximate time period based on clothing, hairstyles, or photographic techniques. You might ask: “This photo shows my great-grandparents. Based on their clothing and the style of the photograph, can you suggest approximately when it might have been taken?”

6. Help with Reading Old Documents

While AI shouldn’t be trusted to interpret difficult handwriting on its own, it can help with typed documents or with understanding unfamiliar terms you encounter in historical records.

How you can use this: If you find an old document with unfamiliar legal terms or occupations, ask the AI to explain them. For example: “I found my ancestor listed as a ‘cordwainer’ in an 1850 census. What did this occupation involve?”

7. Assistance with DNA Matches

If you’ve taken a DNA test, interpreting the results can be overwhelming. AI can help you make sense of your matches and suggest possible family connections.

How you can use this: Describe your DNA match situation to AI and ask for help understanding possible relationships. For example: “I share 215 centimorgans of DNA with someone who doesn’t connect to my known family tree. What possible relationships could explain this amount of shared DNA?”

8. Finding Research Resources

A newer feature in ChatGPT called Deep Research can help you discover books, articles, and websites relevant to your family history questions. This tool searches the internet for resources related to your specific research question and organizes the results for you.

How you can use this: Before starting research in an unfamiliar location, ask AI to help you identify the most useful resources. For example: “I’m researching ancestors who lived in Cornwall, England in the 1700s. Can you help me identify the most important record types and where to find them?”

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Believing Everything the AI Tells You: AI systems sometimes create completely made-up information, including convincing but fictional sources. This is extremely dangerous in family history research, where accuracy is essential.

How to protect yourself: Always verify; check against reliable historical sources. When asking AI to work with family information, provide the source material yourself rather than asking it to recall historical facts.

2. Using AI When Manual Methods Would Be Faster: Sometimes, having AI handle 80% of a task in 20% of the time is efficient—then you can finish the remaining work yourself. But other times, you might spend more time correcting AI output than you would have spent doing the task manually from the start.

How to protect yourself: Test AI on small portions of your work first to see if it’s truly helpful for your specific task. Be honest with yourself about whether the AI is saving you time or just giving you a new way to procrastinate.

3. Not Considering Ethical Issues

AI systems reflect the biases in their training data, and historical records themselves often contain gaps or biases. Good family history research requires ensuring that AI-generated insights don’t perpetuate these problems.

How to protect yourself: Always verify AI suggestions against multiple sources. Consider whether the AI might be missing important cultural or historical context, especially when researching underrepresented groups.

4. Relying Too Much on AI: Perhaps the biggest danger is gradually letting AI make decisions or draw conclusions that you should be making yourself. Remember that every AI output needs human verification.

How to protect yourself: Use AI as a helpful starting point, never as the final authority. Maintain your own research standards and always verify information. People experienced in family history research can easily spot when someone has relied too heavily on unverified AI output.

When to Consider Professional Help

While AI tools can enhance your personal family history efforts, there are times when working with a professional genealogist brings irreplaceable value:

1. When you hit a brick wall: Professionals bring specialized knowledge of unusual record types and research strategies that go beyond what AI can suggest.
2. When evidence is conflicting or incomplete: Professionals are trained to analyze contradictory information and reach sound conclusions based on fragmentary evidence.
3. When records are difficult to access: Many valuable historical records aren’t available online. Professionals know how to access archives, courthouses, and specialized collections that might hold the answers you need.
4. When understanding historical context is crucial: Professionals can help you understand your ancestors in their proper historical setting, explaining migration patterns, community dynamics, and historical events that shaped their lives.
5. When you want to learn better research methods: Working with a professional can teach you proper research techniques that will make all your future family history work more effective.

Conclusion: Working Together with AI

The future of family history research isn’t about choosing between human expertise and artificial intelligence—it’s about thoughtfully combining both. The most successful family historians will be those who learn to use AI’s strengths while applying their own judgment, expertise, and verification.

As I reflect on my journey from AI skeptic to advocate, the most important lesson is this: AI is a tool—an extension of what humans can accomplish—but it should never replace the critical thinking and curiosity that make family history research so rewarding. When used properly, AI can help us cover more ground in less time, allowing us to focus our limited time on the aspects of family history research that truly require human insight and connection.

The Price Genealogy Difference

Whether you’re just beginning to explore your family history or looking to break through long-standing research challenges, understanding how to appropriately use AI tools—and when to seek professional assistance—will help you discover more about your family’s unique story.

At Price Genealogy, our team combines traditional expertise with appropriate AI assistance to deliver exceptional results. Our professionals are skilled in both rigorous research methods and the thoughtful use of technology. Contact us to discuss our professional research packages.

Andre

Images

1. Well-dressed Confused Man, simpleinsomnia, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0; Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Well-dressed%2C_confused_man_%2810878038805%29.jpg).

2. ChatGPT logo, Random837, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons; Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/ChatGPT-Logo-2022.svg).

3. Personal photograph in possession of Diane RogersA Beginner’s Guide