AI can help transcribe records and images including those which are difficult to read. It can extract text from historical documents, such as census records, birth certificates, wills, and newspapers, making them searchable and easier to analyse because it uses optical character recognition. Although AI can transcribe handwritten documents using OCR technology, documents with faded ink, unusual handwriting styles or damaged text could result in inaccuracies. Generally, however, it is pretty good at what it does.
AI can help with transcribing handwritten documents including letters, diaries or records which are difficult to read unless you have palaeographic skills. Many foreign genealogical records are compiled using the language of the country of origin. AI translation tools can make the interpretation of such records easier. This aspect has been around for years.
AI can help identify patterns in names, dates and locations that genealogists might have overlooked. It can help link family members across different documents or even suggest possible relationships. AI is almost useless when working with patronymics.
AI can be a great help in automatically finding relevant records by analysing an existing family tree and thus reduce the time spent manually searching through databases. The tools can suggest records based on matching name variations, misspellings, and changes in geographic locations, thus increasing the chances of finding elusive ancestors.
AI can only work using available data, so it is limited by missing or incomplete records or where records are damaged or never existed. If records have not been digitised, AI cannot access the information as most original records held in local archives will not be available for AI tools to function. There is still a need to undertake archive research to establish a full picture.
AI can analyse DNA results to suggest potential relationships between individuals, which can potentially help family historians resolve research challenges and even brick walls. It can group your DNA matches using shared segments, thus making it easier for family historians to identify common ancestors more quickly.
Perhaps one of the most dangerous aspects of AI is analysing data from records to automatically build family trees, supposedly allowing genealogists to build family trees faster. This will present problems which will need a significant amount of work to correct. However, AI can highlight inconsistencies in dates, places and relationships in a family tree, helping genealogists correct mistakes, so it is not all bad.
AI can be a great tool in the restoration of old photographs by improving their quality, removing blemishes and adding colour to black-and-white images. It can also compare faces in old family photos to identify family members where the origin of a photograph is not known or even across generations.
One very useful aspect of AI is that it can provide new suggestions based on collaborative research where others who have worked on common family lines, allowing potential connections that family historians were not aware of or had considered. AI virtual assistance tools can suggest relevant resources to researchers or even suggest records available on various genealogy websites.
AI is a great tool for providing historical insights; it can help place your ancestors in their contemporary environment and even identify social conditions and migration patterns. In any case, AI relies on the accuracy of historical records. If these records are incorrect because of transcription errors, personal interpretation or deliberate falsification, it will make incorrect connections.
By semi-automating mundane research tasks and undertaking electronic analysis, AI allows family historians to focus on strategic research but beware that AI can easily misinterpret or incorrectly match records due to incomplete data.
AI cannot apply reasoning, intuition or judgment to its findings so circumstantial evidence, family stories and direct local knowledge cannot be conceived by AI. It does not understand the emotional connections such as the importance of a particular ancestor to a family story because it only processes data based on information; it cannot "tell the story". At the end of the day AI-generated information still requires human verification and cannot be relied on to make final decisions, especially when records conflict or when historical context is needed to interpret data correctly.
Although AI is a powerful tool in genealogical research, it only works when combined with your human expertise and interpretation.
