Artificial Intelligence: Tool for Genealogical Research

-
Courtesy https://picryl.com/amp/media/medelssohngenealogy-27a4b2

"AI for Genealogy" is a hot topic these days, but often it is discussed as if it's new. In fact, artificial intelligence (AI) has been used for all kinds of research for a long time. It all depends on how we "AI" define it. Remember, genealogy tree diagrams such as the above diagram were a revolution in how to think about and display family relationships.


New: Chatbots

Chatbot CourtesyVectorPortal.Com
What's new is the chatbots such as ChatGPT. A recent article at ZDnet says, "Whether unlocking your phone through face recognition or telling Alexa to play a song, artificial intelligence has filtered into our everyday lives. Now, you can harness the power of AI to do your writing, too. At your command, AI chatbots can write that paper you have been dreading to start, write code, compose emails, generate art or even write Excel formulas for you. 

"ChatGPT has made quite a splash, motivating competitors to make their own versions. As a result, there are a variety of capable AI chatbots to choose from that can accomplish different things, giving you more options to find one that meets your needs." 


"Old AI"

We know that genealogy research companies such as Ancestry.com, MyHeritage, FindMyPast and DNA testing and analysis companies such as 23andMe, Family Tree DNA, LivingDNA, Gedmatch, DNA Painter, DNA-Sci.com, Genetic Affairs, DNAGedcom.com, Genealogical DNA Analysis Tool  (GDAT), YourDNAFamily, Rootsfinder, Borland Genetics and Wikitree use algorithms to help us analyze our data and those of our matches to help us more fully explore DNA data as another record source. For more information and links to any of the sites in this list, see https://isogg.org/wiki/Autosomal_DNA_tools and the rest of the ISOGG Wiki. 


New, Exciting, Fast-Moving

But what about ChatGPT, etc.? They are new and exciting, and their best use is evolving quickly, right along with their development. The NGS recently hosted a lecture by Steve Little which is now on YouTube: Empowering Genealogists with Artificial Intelligence 6 September 2023. Last week I heard the same lecture, updated - a few weeks later! See some of the new information here, on Little's website. Another valuable website is Blaine Bettinger and Daniel Loftus' Facebook group, Genealogy and Artificial Intelligence.

The technology is moving quickly, so the key is to try out the free stuff, see what you like, and keep learning. AI is a tool much like the other tools we use, all of which have strengths, weaknesses and even dangers. 


With great power comes great responsibility

Recall that once writing advanced beyond hash marks, the sages warned that writing would weaken human memory! That may be true, but writing and reading are two of the most powerful tools we use, right along with observation and listening.*

* Socrates on the Invention of Writing and the Relationship of Writing to Memory.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Looking for a Needle in a Haystack? GAME CHANGER at FamilySearch

-
Image
Generated with Bing ImageCreator (AI), March 13, 2024 Where is YOUR Needle, Your Missing Record? Genealogical Proof Standard When we use the GPS (Genealogical Proof Standard) as our guide, we all know that "exhaustive research" can be both tedious and exhausting. Is life long enough to search page by page through all the counties where all the members of a family might have lived, paid taxes, bought, leased or sold property, made a will or died intestate? It is possible that the new Full Text Search at FamilySearch will  eventually  allow us to do just that. It has been estimated that 75% or more of the records at FamilySearch were browsable but not searchable; the only indexes those found in the records themselves. Those records are certainly attainable by using those indexes and browsing to the record of interest, but the process is tedious, often frustrating, and slow. And once found, the record must be read and transcribed to be useful. This new Full Text Search tackles a...
Read more

What's the Question?

-
Image
We genealogists are often told by experienced researchers how important it is to begin with a research question. I resisted doing this for a long time, but now that I use a series of questions to guide my research, the search is more focused and actually finds more of the history of the family I'm investigating. I use a Google Doc as the  research proceeds, where I keep the question(s), the plan, timelines, checklist of resources to search, etc. all in one place. I've seen others use spreadsheets in the same way, perhaps splitting up things in tabs (Excel or Google Sheets). I prefer a document because I add source citations as I find them and I can begin writing up the case right there in the doc as the hypotheses are proven. Specific Questions in Previous Successes As beginners we often have no clue how much and what details we already know about a person, event or relationship, so it's hard to specify what we want to know. But when looking back at successful research, it ...
Read more

Help Save This Abused and Neglected Cemetery

-
Image
Screen capture from Google Maps History In an exchange of emails this past week in both the main SKCGS group, and in the Washington-State-Genealogy group, many facts were revealed about the history of the I.O.O.F. Comet Lodge Cemetery, also known as the Old Burying Ground, the Georgetown Cemetery, the Graham Street Burying Ground and maybe more.  FindAGrave sums it up this way: "Since it was established in 1881, the Comet Lodge cemetery site has been whittled away to less than half its original 5 acres. Records are sketchy but it's safe to say that some 500 pioneers were buried here, atop unknown numbers of native Duwamish people. New burials ended in the 1930s. Since then, homes and streets were built on top of many of the plots as the neighborhood around the cemetery grew.  "Upkeep and ownership of the cemetery bounced between the city, civic groups, relatives of Comet Lodge residents, and nearby neighbors. For years, much of the property was allowed to deteriorate int...
Read more