I wondered what I am missing out on by using Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools mainly for writing biographies, telling family stories, etc. -- essentially "Summation" and "Historical Fiction."
Note that I only use FREE large language models like Anthropic Claude, OpewnAI ChatGPT, Google Gemini, X Grok, and Perplexity at this time. The answer might be much more complex when thinking and reasoning LLM models are used.
For an answer, I asked the OpenAI ChatGPT5 large language model. My prompt was: "Please identify and describe in a paragraph ten uses of AI that family historians and genealogists should be using."
(Gemini Notebook Infographic - Use Cases for Genealogy and Family History Research)
The ChatGPT5 response was:
Here are ten practical and valuable ways that artificial intelligence can help family historians and genealogists today. Each can save time, improve research quality, or make family history more engaging for others.
1. Transcribing Historical Documents
AI can quickly transcribe handwritten letters, diaries, wills, deeds, probate files, church registers, military records, newspapers, and census pages. Instead of spending hours deciphering difficult handwriting, researchers can obtain an initial transcription in minutes, then compare it with the original image for accuracy. This greatly speeds data extraction while preserving the original wording for future reference.
2. Analyzing Genealogical Evidence
AI serves as a research assistant by examining multiple documents, identifying agreements and conflicts, suggesting additional sources, and helping evaluate evidence according to the Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS). It can summarize findings, point out inconsistencies in dates or relationships, and assist researchers in building well-reasoned conclusions while leaving the final judgment to the genealogist.
3. Writing Ancestor Biographies and Family Stories
Once research has been gathered, AI can transform names, dates, places, and records into engaging biographies and historical narratives. It can produce stories for different audiences—from detailed scholarly biographies with citations to simplified versions for children or family newsletters—making ancestors feel like real people instead of names in a pedigree chart.
4. Creating Source Citations and Research Reports
Many genealogists struggle with consistent documentation. AI can generate source citations following standards such as Evidence Explained, organize research notes, prepare proof summaries, create research logs, and draft formal research reports. This helps researchers maintain professional documentation while reducing repetitive writing tasks.
5. Enhancing and Restoring Historical Photographs
Modern AI image tools can repair scratches, remove stains, sharpen blurry photographs, improve faded images, colorize black-and-white portraits, and enlarge small photographs without losing significant detail. These improvements often reveal facial features, clothing, and backgrounds that were previously difficult to see, making family photographs more meaningful and enjoyable.
6. Translating Foreign Language Records
Many family historians encounter records written in German, French, Dutch, Swedish, Italian, Polish, Latin, or other languages. AI can translate these documents while preserving their genealogical meaning, explain unfamiliar historical terminology, and identify occupations, legal phrases, and place names. This makes international research much more accessible to researchers who do not speak the original language.
7. Creating Educational Content and Presentations
AI can help genealogists prepare lectures, society presentations, webinars, blog posts, handouts, newsletters, and course materials. It can organize information into logical outlines, generate illustrations or timelines, create slide presentations, and even draft speaker notes. This allows presenters to spend more time refining their expertise rather than formatting materials.
8. Generating Maps, Timelines, and Visualizations
AI excels at converting research into visual formats. It can create migration maps, family timelines, relationship charts, historical infographics, family tree graphics, and geographic illustrations that show where ancestors lived and how they moved over time. These visual aids often communicate family history more effectively than text alone.
9. Producing Videos and Multimedia Stories
Using AI, genealogists can combine photographs, maps, documents, narration, music, and historical images into engaging videos about an ancestor, family line, or historical event. These multimedia presentations can be shared with relatives, genealogy societies, or online audiences, helping preserve family history in formats that younger generations are more likely to watch and appreciate.
10. Acting as a Personal Genealogy Research Assistant
Perhaps the most powerful use of AI is as an always-available research partner. AI can brainstorm research strategies, suggest repositories and record sets, recommend search terms, organize digital files, summarize webinars and podcasts, explain unfamiliar historical contexts, answer genealogy questions, and help plan future research. Rather than replacing the genealogist, AI amplifies the researcher's knowledge and productivity, allowing more time to focus on analysis, discovery, and preserving family history for future generations.
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A Google Gemini Notebook Video Overview of this post is in:
That is a fairly succinct list and set of descriptions. I have pursued all of those use cases, and several more, to some degree over the past two years (documented in Randy's AI and Genealogy).
I can think of quite a few more use cases that I've used (e.g., creating memoirs and dialogues, creating songs and poems, analyzing photographs, creating historical fiction book chapters, etc.).
What other use cases can you think of?
What use cases would you like an Artificial Intelligence tool to use to help you as a research partner to make more efficient use of your time and effort?
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