Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming industries across the globe, and genealogy is no exception. The technology is being used to speed up the process of digitising and indexing historical records, and is providing new ways for people to connect with their heritage. Traces recently spoke with Hunter Cannon, Family History Expert at Ancestry, to learn how cutting‑edge AI tools are reshaping the search for ancestors, making information more accessible, and helping families preserve their stories for generations to come.
Traces (T): AI is reshaping so many industries, including genealogy. Can you share some examples of how it’s making family history research faster or easier for people?
Hunter Cannon (HC): First and foremost, it has increased our ability to index and extract information from historical records. A great example of this was our work with the 1950 US Federal Census. When we worked on the 1940 US census, it took nine months to extract and index the information. When we did the 1950 US Federal Census, it took only nine days because we used state‑of‑the art AI handwriting recognition technology to transcribe the document. We used format and field to index mappings, and automated systems to bring all the pieces together and make it available for our customers to search and view on our website.
AI technology is also opening up additional ways we can help customers make discoveries. One example is a new AI power tool Ancestry offers that allows customers to search our historical photograph database by the faces of the individuals in historical images that they don’t recognise.
T: You mentioned AI can handle huge amounts of data – how does that influence what types of tasks or challenges AI can solve in family history?
HC: The core of family history is sifting through massive amounts of data trying to find family members, their life events and their stories. AI is extremely good with large datasets and making connections within that data. With records, AI’s ability to extract more information than ever before, then organise and link that information at a deeper level, will help.
For images, it includes organising family memories through facial grouping, as well as auto and recommended tagging.
T: Some people worry that AI might replace human expertise. How do you see AI complementing, rather than replacing, the work of genealogists and family historians?
HC: Family history is a very time‑consuming process. The reason people engage in such a hobby is that, in the end, it is very rewarding. We see AI as an incredible tool to dramatically reduce the amount of time and energy it takes to uncover family stories. People who previously didn’t have the time commitment to invest in family history, even if they are interested in learning about their relatives, will now be able to engage and make those impactful discoveries.
T: Some people might wonder whether using AI to do more of the work takes away from the fun or personal discovery of family history. What are your thoughts on this?
HC: I would argue the opposite. When records were first digitised, it didn’t make family history any less meaningful; it just meant that you didn’t have to go to those physical locations to look at the records. AI will just make family history discoveries more accessible to a broader set of hobbyists by making it easier to find information across a broader set of data.
