By Maureen Martin Ferris
When used carefully, artificial intelligence can serve as a valuable research companion for the family historian, offering powerful tools to support, assist and streamline your work.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the way we live and work, and genealogical research is no exception. When used well, it can act as a powerful virtual research assistant for family historians, helping to decipher cursive writing, organise timelines and suggest new records to break through brick walls. It can rapidly summarise large amounts of digitised information and help to identify patterns that might otherwise take much longer to find. Many genealogical and family history websites also off er AI tools of their own – for things like recognising individuals in historical photographs, and colourising, repairing or sharpening photos.
While AI offers many tools that can assist researchers, it cannot replace intuition, creativity and critical thinking skills, which are all essential in research. Relying too much on these tools can also result in a lack of diversity in sources or perspectives.
As such, it’s important to always approach AI-generated content with a critical eye, and prioritise human oversight in your family history work. Verify all sources carefully, treating any information provided as a reference rather than absolute fact. It has been well-documented that AI sometimes invents facts, quotations, references or sources, and presents them with complete confidence. These have become known as ‘hallucinations’. So, use AI as a guide or starting point, but ensure that you independently confirm all details through reliable sources.
Tips for safe and responsible AI use
- Verify information: Always cross-check AI-generated content with reliable sources.
- Limit personal data: Avoid entering sensitive information into AI chatbots. Some AI services may retain prompts or use them to improve their models. Before uploading personal information, check the service’s privacy policy and think carefully before sharing DNA reports, family trees containing living people, birth certificates or private correspondence.
- Be aware of biases: AI outputs may include societal or historical biases that reflect the inequalities, stereotypes or systemic injustices present in the data it accesses.
- Maintain human oversight: Use AI to augment, not replace, human judgement.
- Educate yourself: Stay informed about AI capabilities and limitations.
