AI and Genealogy: Using AI to Translate Genealogy Records

While artificial intelligence won’t help you find specific records for genealogical research, AI can summarize the record sets you should consult for your search. Learn how to construct effective prompts and queries to return the best information on a record set.

Artificial intelligence can assist in constructing a summary of a document or genealogy record. AI can generate summary text in various formats that you can then add to your research.

While you won’t be able to find genealogy-related records using artificial intelligence, you will be able to use AI to learn more about an ancestor’s “social history.” Social history details how an ancestor lived including where they lived, their occupation, the cost of goods and services, and why they may have migrated to or from a location. Social history “fills in the dash” between an ancestor’s birth date and death date.

Artificial intelligence is an amazing resource to help transcribe genealogy documents and records, even those with handwriting! Learn which digital file formats and prompts work best for the best results.

While AI (artificial intelligence) might be the current “hot” buzz word, the fact is that many genealogy vendors and even genealogists have already been using this technology for years. The AI industry is at a cross-roads and within the next five years, it will permeate almost every aspect of business and society. Learn how AI is currently being used to improve the genealogy experience, and whether or not you should seek out other uses of artificial intelligence for your own genealogy research.

What will happen to your family stories when you turn the corner from being a researcher to being an ancestor? Will the children and youth in your family love genealogy like you do? Will they help keep your family stories alive? Learn about 5 ways you can use artificial intelligence to get children and youth involved in family history: 1) MyHeritage AI Time Machine 2) BillionGraves AI Gravestone Transcriptions 3) AI-Generated Family Stories with Storied 4) Canva's AI Storybook Illustrations 5) MyHeritage AI DeepStory Photos. Do the math: 5 ways to use AI + family History = children & youth having fun!

Many 19th- and early 20th-century German language newspapers were printed in a Fraktur font. And not only that, they were written in a foreign language! This combination of an archaic font and a foreign language creates two significant hurdles for the 21st century genealogist, perhaps with limited foreign language skills, to overcome. But don’t despair. Modern technology has provided solutions. Learn how to "crack the code" and discover where your favorite newspaper sites have hidden the Optical Character Recognition (OCR) text. Translation tools will quickly make those foreign words readable for even the most die-hard English-only speaker.

Continue to discover the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in unravelling your family's history. This session will build upon concepts covered in the introductory session that explored the world of AI and genealogy. Topics and skills covered during the webinar will enable participants to: Learn the art of crafting exceptional prompts; Navigate the intricacies of bias in AI-generated responses; Develop strategies to ensure a fair and inclusive exploration of your heritage; Safeguard your privacy and security as we shed light on the best practices to protect your personal information; Investigate images and AI and their application in genealogical research; Examine alternative AI tools to ChatGPT; Develop strategies for assessing AI tools and their usefulness; Filled with many practical examples, using his own family history research and investigations, there will also be ample opportunities to ask questions and share your own experiences in using AI tools.

Learn how to use Transkribus, ChatGPT and other AI tools to translate German church records, and other records, into English. Learn about cautions and practical uses.