Learn the principles, tools, and responsible practices for using AI in your genealogical research.
This webinar session (Part 2 in an “AI for Genealogists” deep-dive series) focuses on a practical skill that can immediately improve research outcomes: writing better prompts to get better answers from AI tools. Rather than treating AI as a magic search box, the presenters show how prompt structure shapes the quality, accuracy, and usability of results—whether the goal is building a research plan, extracting details from historical text, or explaining DNA testing to a family member. The lesson is especially relevant for genealogists because genealogy depends on specificity, evidence, and repeatable methods—exactly the areas where well-crafted prompts make the biggest difference.
A simple framework turns vague questions into research-ready outputs. The core teaching is a four-part prompt structure—Who / What / Guide / How—that clarifies role and audience, specifies the action verb (summarize, extract, outline, generate, etc.), adds constraints or context, and defines the desired format (table, list, paragraphs, columns). Small wording changes—especially verbs and formatting requests—are shown to dramatically alter results.
Prompting is iterative, and “conversation memory” can help or hinder. Demonstrations highlight why starting a new chat for a new task prevents topic bleed (e.g., switching from 19th-century research to WWII records). The session also shows how identical prompts can produce different outputs across users or over time, making it worthwhile to rerun key prompts periodically and to design reusable templates by keeping the “changeable” details (person/place/time) grouped for easy swapping.
Real genealogy scenarios make the method feel immediately usable. Examples include generating record-roadmaps (e.g., 19th-century England), compiling prioritized WWII U.S. military resources, drafting an immigration research plan optimized for online work, creating a clear explainer for DNA testing, and extracting names/relationships from an obituary—then refining the results into cleaner tables and focusing only on relevant people. Practical cautions appear throughout: verify facts, expect variation, be careful with paywalled sources, and think critically about privacy when tools request logins.
To get the full benefit, view the complete webinar and follow along with the exercises: seeing the live “prompt → output → refine” loop makes the techniques far easier to replicate in everyday research, and the replay makes it simple to pause and capture prompt language for future use. The syllabus also includes additional prompts, practice pages, and “try this” challenges—worth exploring to build a personal prompt library that saves time, reduces dead ends, and strengthens genealogical conclusions.
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Syllabus
I was a little apprehensive after the first session. But after tonight’s session class 2, following along and trying at the same time made for an excellent one. Andrew and Fiona make an excellent team of teachers.
The ‘identifying’ myself aspect was really helpful. Being able to ‘change hats’ with AI from my hobby as a family historian but also a teddy bear collector, will definitely alter the content we exchange and the language used. Thank you for attaching the syllabus before the session, it helps to have time to print it out and have on hand at the start of the session.
Amazingly helpful. Thank you. A complex subject explained well. I think the hand out will be very helpful for practicing using AI.
I wish I could give this a 10. Building on the previous session, this expansion into writing prompts provided a solid foundation for creating the prompts and built on the benefits of AI. I really like the expanded sessions that provide a deeper understanding of the subject over the course of several webinars. The work in AI and DNA are expanding my knowledge and giving me the chance to ask why during the multiple sessions. GREAT IDEA and GREAT WORK!
The handouts were very helpful and I really enjoyed the tag-team approach by the presenters for posing prompts and showing results on screen. This kept the presentation moving, allowed maximum information to be shared and it allows the user to refer back to the prompts in future. I also admire the way that audience questions were managed. Exceptional job!
They were very knowledgeable and was able to pass on their knowledge clearly.
This webinar has been a game changer for me. The presenter’s are very knowledgeable and make learning fun and interesting.
I found this webinar very useful. The explanation of how prompt wording affects AI responses was clear and practical, and it’s helped me think more carefully about how I frame questions for my family history research.