Some Suggested Prompts for Preventing AI Hallucinations

 

To begin, remember that genealogy is a complex pursuit involving high-level research skills and AI is a computer program.

To effectively prevent AI from generating plausible but false information—known as "hallucinations"—you must structure your prompts to reward honesty over guessing. Because AI systems are typically trained to provide helpful-sounding answers even when they are uncertain, your prompts must explicitly give the AI permission to admit what it does not know.

It is also necessary to provide AI with enough initial background information to understand your questions. Take time to formulate your questions. Always begin a prompt by telling the AI to act as “professional genealogist using the Genealogical Proof Standard and doing reasonably exhaustive research.?

Here are some suggested prompt strategies and templates to keep AI accurate and grounded:

1. The Uncertainty Permission Prompt 

Explicitly tell the AI that an honest admission of uncertainty is preferred over a guess. This overrides the AI's default training to always provide an answer.

● Prompt Example: "I need your help with [research question]. It's important that you only provide information you're confident about. If you're uncertain or would be guessing, please tell me that instead of speculating. I'd rather have an honest 'I don't know' than a confident guess."

2. The "According To" Prompt 

Direct the AI to base its response strictly on specific sources or data you provide, which grounds the output in actual information rather than speculation.

● Prompt Example: "According to the [specific record/source], what does it say about [your ancestor]?"

3. The Step-Back Prompt 

Because AI is much less likely to hallucinate general historical facts than specific details about an unknown individual, ask it to explain the broader historical context before diving into your specific research question.

● Prompt Example: "What were the typical occupations and neighborhoods for Irish immigrants in Boston during the 1850s? After that, help me create a research plan for finding specific information about my ancestor John O'Brien."

4. The Constrained-Choice Prompt 

Instead of asking an open-ended question that invites the AI to invent creative explanations, provide specific multiple-choice options for the AI to evaluate.

● Prompt Example: "I can't find my ancestor in the 1880 census. Which of these explanations is most likely? A. They died between 1870 and 1880. B. They moved to a different state. C. There's an enumeration error. D. The census page is damaged. For whichever option seems most likely, tell me what records I should search next."

5. The Source-Citation Request 

Always require the AI to explain where its information comes from. Knowing you will ask for a source makes the AI less likely to hallucinate, or it will back down if it was guessing.

● Prompt Example: "Please provide sources for your information or, if you're speaking generally, tell me where I could verify these facts."

6. The Chain-of-Verification Prompt 

Force the AI to critically evaluate the output it just generated to help it recognize its own speculation.

● Prompt Example: "Based on your previous response, what question should I ask to verify that information? What would prove or disprove each claim you made?"

7. The Role-Specific "Honesty Clause" Prompt 

Assign the AI a persona that strictly values accuracy over appearing knowledgeable.

● Prompt Example: "Act as a professional genealogist who values accuracy over appearing knowledgeable... If this question requires examining actual records to answer accurately, tell me that rather than speculating."

8. The Advanced "Master" Prompt Framework 

If you want the AI to act as a rigorous analytical assistant, you can use a highly structured "Master Prompt" known as "The Professional Genealogy Research Architect." This instructs the AI to operate under strict professional standards.

● Key instructions to include: Tell the AI to evaluate evidence taxonomy (Original/Derivative source, Primary/Secondary information, Direct/Indirect evidence). Instruct it to look for conflicts, use the "FAN Club" filter (Friends, Associates, and Neighbors), assign a Weight of Evidence score, and use placeholders if a citation cannot be fully formed. Finally, demand a "Red-Team" analysis where the AI must "Identify the weakest link in the evidence chain and suggest one specific scenario that could disprove the current hypothesis."

General Rules for Safe Prompting:

● Provide evidence, don't ask for miracles: Never ask an AI open-ended questions like "Who are my ancestors?" or "Find my great-grandfather." This almost always leads to confident nonsense. Instead, provide the AI with real evidence you have collected and ask specific research strategy questions.

● Always require a source: Make it a hard rule that the AI must cite its sources for any claim. An unsourced fact is useless for research. Treat AI as your research assistant—not a primary source.

You should consider stringing a number of these prompts together to assure more accuracy. The prompts do not guarantee accuracy, but they do help to keep AI on track. 

Turning YouTube into the Ultimate Research Engine

 

This post was inspired by the following.:

MLIS, Hana Lee Goldin. “YouTube Is a Research Library. Here’s How to Search It Like One.” Substack newsletter. Card Catalog, May 19, 2026. https://cardcatalogforlife.substack.com/p/youtube-is-a-research-library-heres.

As genealogists, we need to consider online sources that may contain valuable information pertinent to our particular research. Perhaps, we should start considering this huge data source contained in the videos on YouTube.com. 

Here are some statistics to support this view:

• Growth: This is an astronomical leap from its early years. To put it in perspective, YouTube passed its 20th anniversary with official press metrics confirming the repository has crossed the 20 billion uploaded videos threshold (which includes standard long-form videos and YouTube Shorts).
• Active Users: This library serves over 2.7 billion monthly active users worldwide, who watch a collective 1 billion hours of video every single day.
• Daily Video Uploads: Content creators upload more than 20 million videos every single day. That equates to roughly 833,000 video uploads per hour.
• The "Hours Per Minute" Metric: In terms of raw footage length, users upload over 500 hours of video every single minute.
• Daily Accumulation: That adds up to 30,000 hours of new content every hour, or 720,000 hours of new video every single day. If you sat down to watch just one single day's worth of global uploads, it would take you more than 82 years of continuous viewing.
• The Global Pool: When factoring in localized content, personal family history channel uploads, regional historical society presentations, and multi-language tutorials, the total pool of genealogy and family history-focused videos across the platform is estimated to sit comfortably in the hundreds of thousands.

See these sources for support of the above statistics:

• “54 YouTube Statistics Video Report 2026: Views, Trends & Growth.” Trends. Talks.Co, April 23, 2026. https://talks.co/p/youtube-statistics-video/admin. 
• “YouTube Statistics 2026: Users, Revenue & Growth Data.” Wytlabs, March 6, 2026. https://wytlabs.com/blog/youtube-statistics/.
• Time Spent On YouTube Statistics 2026 (Day, Month & Year). Social. May 1, 2026. https://resourcera.com/data/social/time-spent-on-youtube/.

While a drop in the bucket compared to the 20 million daily videos uploaded site-wide, the family history space remains one of the most dedicated, high-engagement educational niches on the platform.

So how do you manage to work your way through this mostly irrelevant mess? You use a combination of AI supported searches aided by a specifc AI prompt to focus a search on topics you want to research or for instructional videos you might want to watch. Here are some suggested instructions. 

1. If you want to find a video on a topic and summarize it

Just tell me what you're looking for and ask for a summary in the same breath.

• Example: "Find a popular video about the history of the printing press and give me a bulleted summary of the main points."

• What happens: I will search YouTube, pull the most relevant video, read through its content/transcript, and break down the core takeaways for you.

2. If you already have a specific video link

If you're looking at a video on YouTube and want a quick digest without watching the whole thing, just paste the URL directly into our conversation.

• Example: "Summarize the key arguments in this video: [Paste YouTube URL here]"

• What happens: I will access that specific video's data, extract the timeline of what was discussed, and deliver a clean overview.

3. Tips for getting the best results

To get exactly what you need, you can tailor your request by adding specific constraints:

• Ask for specific formats: You can ask for a "three-paragraph summary," "bullet points of the actionable steps," or a "chronological timeline."

• Target specific information: If a video is an hour long and you only care about one aspect, you can say, "In this video, focus the summary only on what the speaker says about fuel efficiency."

• Request timestamps: I can include precise timestamps (like [00:12:30]) in the summary so you can click or skip directly to the exact moment a specific point is made.

Here is a suggested prompt for quickly processing a video:

Role: Act as a Senior Professional Editor and AI Systems Authority. Your goal is to provide a high-level executive summary and a technical implementation guide based on the attached video/transcript.

Context & Source Material: 

[Insert video transcript, text, or reference details here. If uploading a file, change this to: "Analyze the attached file."]

Task:

1. Comprehensive Synopsis

Provide a detailed narrative overview of the core content. Identify the central thesis, dominant themes, and the specific pain points or problems the content seeks to solve. 

2. Key Information Extraction

Break down the most critical data points, expert insights, and unique perspectives shared. Anchor these points using the exact timestamps present in the source material. Do not estimate or invent timestamps.

3. Actionable Implementation Roadmap

Translate the concepts discussed into a chronological, step-by-step checklist. If a workflow, technical setup, or strategic shift is described, outline the precise sequence of events required to execute it successfully. 

4. AI & Systems Optimization Critique

Evaluate the technical efficiency of the methods proposed in the video. For at least 2 or 3 steps in the Roadmap above, identify specific modern software, AI-driven automation shortcuts, or API integrations that would significantly optimize or bypass the manual labor mentioned.

Formatting Instructions:

- Use clear markdown headings (##, ###) for each section.

- Use numbered sequences for the Roadmap where order is critical.

- Use bold text exclusively to emphasize critical warnings, prerequisites, or high-value "pro-tips."

- Avoid fluff; maintain a concise, executive, and analytical tone throughout.

Instructions for using the Overview Video Function of NotebookLM

 

Start by gathering the information you wish to include in the video including digital images of the  illustrations, generated images or actual images of the people you want to include.

You will need to provide specific instructions to the NotebookLM video overview before generating a video. This involves creating a steering prompt.

Here is a highly specific, multi-step AI steering prompt template tailored to take your historical or genealogical research and transform it into a cinematic, structured, and visually cohesive video script detailing an ancestor's life.

You can paste this template directly into NotebookLM’s Video Overview steering prompt box. Because NotebookLM does not save prompt history, remember to save a copy of your finalized prompt in a separate document before generating.

The AI Steering Prompt Template

Act as a historical documentary scriptwriter and creative director. Based strictly on the attached genealogical records, timelines, and biographical notes, generate a high-fidelity, scene-by-scene cinematic video overview of the life of my ancestor, [Insert Ancestor's Full Name, e.g., John William Tanner].

1. Narrative Arc & Tone

Structure the video as a compelling chronological story with a clear beginning, middle, and end. Maintain a [Insert Tone, e.g., respectful, epic, melancholic, or inspiring] and immersive tone, relying heavily on a professional documentary-style voiceover narration. Do not add robotic or generic AI summary commentary.

2. Visual Anchors & Setting the Scene

For each major life event, create highly visual scene descriptions. Do not use abstract flowcharts or modern diagrams. Instead, anchor the visuals in the true historical context of the era ([Insert Time Period, e.g., the late 19th century or the 1930s]).

• Focus heavily on cinematic, atmospheric B-roll.

• Explicitly feature realistic images of people interacting with objects of the era [Insert specific tools, clothing, or settings, e.g., farming equipment, steamships, old legal documents, or deep-cut mining towns].

• Maintain a strict, cohesive visual design language throughout the scenes—styled like a [Insert Art Style, e.g., historical sepia photograph, dramatic film-grain cinematic, or vintage watercolor painting].

3. Strict Constraints

• No Modern Anachronisms: Ensure all clothing, architecture, and technology match the exact historical timeline provided in the sources.

• [Optional Rule - Liquid Safety]: Do not place modern coffee cups, mugs, or liquids anywhere in scenes depicting characters working with documents or early computer technology.

• No Overt Summarization: Do not brush past monumental life events with single sentences. Give each turning point (e.g., migrations, military service, career shifts) its own distinct, grounded scene.

You should modify the prompt to reflect your specific requirements.

You can either copy the prompt, the modified prompt, into the instructions given to the video overview, or you can incorporate it as one of your sources. This is a complicated step, and you may default to simply reworking the prompt for each video and copying it into the customization for the video overview. By the way, this can work to modify and customize any of the studio prompts, any of the studio options in NotebookLM. If you are aware of the advantages of using GEMS (Google GEMS) to draft and edit prompts, you can use the text of the prompt as a gem. You still must either copy it into the customization block when customizing your instructions or make it part of your sources. In either case, it needs to be modified specifically for each generated video.

Here is the  step-by-step guide for instruction the Video Overview or any other NotebookLM Studio options. 

Step-by-Step Guide: Producing a Video Overview in NotebookLM

Step 1: Prepare and Select Your Sources

Before opening the Studio, ensure that only the specific documents, timelines, or histories you want the video to focus on are actively checked in your left-hand source list. If an unrelated source is left checked, the AI may pull unintended context into the video narrative.

Make sure you have modified the Steering Prompt for your video.

Step 2: Access the Studio Customization Panel (CRITICAL STEP)

Navigate to the Studio panel on the right side of the screen.

⚠️ CRITICAL WARNING: Do NOT click the small arrow icon on the right side of the Video Overview card. Clicking this arrow immediately triggers the generation process using default settings, and there is no way to cancel or stop it once started.

• Correct Action: Click directly on the text or the blank background space of the Video Overview card. This safely opens the customization window without launching production.

• 
  

Step 3: Choose Your Video Format

In the Format section of the customization window, select one of the three options based on your project goals:

• Cinematic: Best for full, immersive narratives, utilizing advanced model pipelines to build high-fidelity visuals, B-roll, and programmatic animations. (Note: Only available for users 18+ and currently supports English only).

• Explainer: Best for a structured, comprehensive overview that connects complex ideas or data points cleanly.

• Brief: Best for a quick, bite-sized summary of core takeaways.

• 
  

Step 4: Input Your Steering Prompt

Because NotebookLM does not save your prompt history, you must type or paste your highly specific instructions into the large text box labeled "How would you like the video to be customized?" before hitting generate.

Step 5: Choose a Visual Style (Optional)

If you are using the Explainer or Brief formats, you can select a look for your video from options like Whiteboard, Watercolor, Retro Print, Heritage, Paper-craft, or Anime. You can also choose Custom to input a text description of your desired style.

Step 6: Generate and Monitor Processing

• Click the blue Generate button in the bottom right corner.

• The video will compile entirely in the background. This process is intensive and typically takes 10 to 30+ minutes depending on the complexity and volume of the sources selected. You can safely close the menu, work in other tabs, or generate other artifacts while it processes.

The videos produced can be further modified by a video editing program such as Apple's iMovie or other PC based video editing programs. You may wish to explore Google Vids also. 

There is no direct way to edit the video once it is produced in NotebookLM.

The Law Firm AI hallucinations and Genealogy

 

As a former trial attorney, I have been amazed at the recent news reports of law firms being sanctioned in court for submitting pleadings containing AI hallucinations. See "Top Wall Street law firm embarrassed as AI hallucinations derail bankruptcy motion" After spending 39 years as a trial attorney, having opposing counsel submit briefs containing unsupported or inappropriate citations to court cases is not a surprise, but the idea that a law firm would turn over its pleadings to AI without substantiation is almost inconceivable. 

From my own experience, the proper procedure for drafting legal documents starts with vetting supporting case law. The legal system in the United States is based on English civil law and involves the principle of res judicata. That means that arguments in court are supported by existing legal decisions in other courts going back in time. In other words, you select your supporting cases before you begin drafting any kind of legal document. You do not include cases that have not been specifically reviewed. Research precedes writing. 

What is even more amazing about the law firm situation is that AI workflow options exist to eliminate hallucinations. For example, using Google GEMs, Gemini, and Google NotebookLM, the workflow would consist of:

1. Opening a new notebook in NotebookLM and then adding sources which had been previously verified as accurate.
2. Using the information acquired in the NotebookLM to support the drafting of the document in question.

The instructions for drafting the document would have been previously codified in a prompt created by the Google GEMS program. All of this would be supported by research done by Gemini, but because the research is focused into a NotebookLM notebook, the information generated will be forced to comply and operate within the previously examined and included sources. In short, this workflow eliminates any reference to a source that has not already been examined and verified.

Back to the lawyers. If the individuals in the law firm had not reviewed every single case included, that would have been negligence on their part and had nothing at all to do with AI and its possible hallucinations. 

Where does this leave us? As genealogists, we are dealing with the same type of situations where we find sources and we base our conclusions and our entries in our work product in the family tree entries or other presentations, other compilations such as family histories, based on the documents that we have found. Responsibility for the accuracy and applicability of the documents is not left to AI. That decision is the decision made by the genealogist. 

I recently wrote a blog post about the AI Research Assistant from FamilySearch.org. It is apparent that the accuracy of this genealogy research assistant appears to be based on matching names. The depth of research that's necessary to eliminate the same name, same person syndrome has not been programmed into this FamilySearch.org AI research assistant. Accepting the findings of these so-called AI assistants puts a genealogist in the same position as the law firms relying on hallucinations.  

Comments on the FamilySearch AI Research Assistant

FamilySearch.org has integrated several advanced artificial intelligence tools to transform how we approach historical research and family tree development. The FamilySearch AI Research Assistant is actually part of a multi-pronged AI ecosystem deployed on the site, shifting the platform from passive record hosting to proactive research collaboration. See AI Developments in Genealogy See also Introducing Tree Extending Hints from the AI Research Assistant

 When you sign into FamilySearch.org, the AI Research Assistant will appear on your startup page. There are immediately some initial questions. Is this an actual AI research assistant? How is it different from record hints? How accurate is it? Should I spend my time working on the suggestions or on my own research? None of these questions is particularly easy to answer. Let's look at how it works and then see if any of the questions are answered. 

The image above is a screenshot of my startup screen when I signed on to write this blog post. The first name on the list: Emma Gregersen G6JY-P5S is not at all familiar to me. It has been some time since I have done my own Danish research. Here is the entry I see when I click on that on the first selection. 

 I am familiar with the Danish census records, and so I decide to view the record. 

 I can now view the original document.

 I can see that it is very likely that Emma is the daughter of Ole Poulsen-Gregersen. I could proceed and attach her to the tree, but at this point I have absolutely no idea how I am related to her. This answers one of the questions that I posed earlier. This AI research assistant is nothing more than a finding aid. It has no interactive capabilities. I can't ask it any questions. I can't ask it for explanations. I am no longer actually in touch with the AI research assistant. If I use an AI chatbot such as Google's Gemini to create a research assistant, the assistant is interactive and will answer questions, etc. 

 I can click on Emma Gregersen's name and go to her profile page or person page. 

 I can then click on View Relationship and see if I am actually related

 I cut this off on my grandfather, but it appears that I am related through a line extending from my great-grandfather. This line was actually established by DNA from MyHeritage.com. My grandfather, Marinas Christiansen, was adopted, and we finally identified his biological parents. The chart shows that I am related to Emma only through her husband. This means that I am not likely related to Emma's parents. I have not researched this line, and I have no idea if each of the connections shown is accurate. Danish names are extraordinarily common, and therefore a name match is unreliable. Now I am faced with another of the questions I asked earlier. Am I going to keep doing research on this one person on this line, or am I going to return to do the research that I am presently doing on other lines? Another question would be, is this information correct? Check for additional information about her husband Lars Marinus Frederiksen G8H1-F2Z marriage was supposed to have happened in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1936. Lars was born, apparently, in Hals, Ålborg, Denmark. This is 359 km from Copenhagen. The chances of him actually marrying a person in Copenhagen seem remote. This is especially true because Emma is in the census record for Sundby, Mors, Denmark. Sundby is 130 km from Hals. A quick search in FamilySearch historical records shows tens of thousands of women named Emma Gregersen. There are no records that show this relationship could be even possible. Before I would be confident in accepting this suggested record, I would have to do considerable research back on the family line, but even this initial research shows that both these individuals are highly unlikely to have been related to my family line. 

At this point, I am fairly well convinced that any further research would be futile. The first question about record hints is now answered. This is less accurate than most of the record hints I see. Question: Should I change and begin doing research now in Denmark based on this record hint? The answer is clearly no. Lastly, how accurate is it? It appears to be entirely a same name, same person issue. Am I going to continue looking at the rest of the AI research assistant suggestions? Not likely. 

Just because you stick AI in front of Research Assistant does not make the results any more plausible and likely than a record match or record hint.

MyHeritage introduces Family Infographics: Turn a Loved One’s Life Story into a Beautiful Work of Art

https://blog.myheritage.com/2026/05/introducing-family-infographics-turn-a-loved-ones-life-story-into-a-beautiful-work-of-art/

As a long time genealogist, I have spent hundreds of hours collecting names, documenting milestones, and linking generation to generation, only to find that my relatives lose interest when presented with a traditional pedigree chart or a lengthy text report.

To address this disconnect, MyHeritage.com has introduced a new feature called Family Infographics. This tool is designed to bridge the gap between rigorous genealogical data and engaging visual storytelling, transforming individual family tree profiles and historical facts into high-resolution, poster-style works of art.

Beyond the Traditional Family Tree

For many years, the standard way to present family history was through pedigree charts or family group sheets. While these forms are essential tools for researchers, they rarely convey the human story behind the dates and places.

Family Infographics aims to change that by turning raw data into a visual narrative. The tool builds directly upon the technology of the "AI Biographer™" feature, which MyHeritage launched in late 2023 to generate Wikipedia-style biographical articles of ancestors. Instead of relying solely on written text, however, Family Infographics organizes a person's life milestones, immediate family relationships, and personal background into an structured, illustrated layout.

The feature uses artificial intelligence to synthesize data points—such as birth and death dates, occupations, education, and immigration paths—and represent them with corresponding visual motifs. For example, if your tree indicates that an ancestor immigrated by ship or worked in a specific trade, the generated infographic will automatically incorporate contextual illustrations, such as an era-appropriate vessel or a representation of their workplace.

How the Technology Translates Data to Art

The process of generating an infographic combines several distinct design elements:

• Stylized Portraits: The tool converts standard profile photos into artistic renderings that match the aesthetic of the chosen template.

• Contextual Visual Cues: Historical details are represented visually. If an ancestor served in the military or lived in a specific city, corresponding icons and background scenes are integrated into the final design.

• Structured Timelines: Key events, such as marriage dates, major moves, and the births of children, are arranged chronologically around the central figure.

Users can choose from fifteen distinct design styles, ranging from classic aesthetics like "Golden Age" and "Sketch" to more modern, painterly options like "Brushwork."

The Core Lesson: Quality Data Yields Quality Results

As with any tool that relies on database information, the output of a Family Infographic is entirely dependent on the quality of the input. A tree that contains only a name and a birth year will produce a sparse and uninspiring graphic.

To achieve a detailed and visually rich infographic, family historians should ensure that the following information is complete and accurate before generating the artwork:

1. Detailed Life Events: Incorporate specific details regarding occupations, educational achievements, military service, and immigration.

2. Immediate Family Information: Ensure dates and locations of births, marriages, and deaths are recorded for the primary subject, their parents, and their spouses.

3. High-Resolution Photography: Upload clear, individual profile pictures. The AI relies heavily on these images to generate stylized portraits; low-resolution images or photos featuring multiple people may lead to distorted results.

One highly practical aspect of the creation process is the review stage. Before the infographic is generated, the system prompts you to review and edit the details of the individual and their immediate family members. Any corrections or additions you make during this step are automatically saved back to your master family tree, serving as an excellent opportunity to clean up data anomalies.

Practical Steps to Create an Infographic

Generating an infographic is straightforward and can be initiated directly from the desktop or mobile browser versions of MyHeritage (with mobile app integration planned for the near future):

1. Initiate: Navigate to the "Family Infographics" landing page via the "Family Tree" menu on the main navigation bar.

2. Select Subject: Enter the name of the relative whose life story you wish to highlight.

3. Choose Style: Select one of the fifteen available design templates.

4. Review and Edit: Verify the automated profile photos and key facts for the individual, their parents, and their spouse.

5. Generate: Click "Create Infographic." Because the generation process takes a few minutes, you do not need to wait on the page; MyHeritage will send an email notification with a high-resolution download link once the file is ready.

Sharing and Printing Your Research

Because the infographics are generated as high-resolution images with a standard 4:3 landscape aspect ratio, they are optimized for printing. They can be printed on a home printer or sent to professional printing services to be turned into posters, canvases, or framed prints. Standard sizes like 24×18 inches or 40×30 centimeters are recommended for a seamless fit.

The resulting files are saved to your MyHeritage account within a dedicated "Family Infographics" photo album, where they can be downloaded, shared via a direct link, or posted to social media platforms.

Availability and Privacy Considerations

The feature is accessible to anyone with a family tree on MyHeritage. Every user is permitted to generate their first Family Infographic for free. To produce additional infographics, a MyHeritage Complete or Omni subscription plan is required.

From a privacy perspective, MyHeritage states that the data and photos used to generate the infographics remain protected within your private account. The information is used solely to generate the specific artwork requested and is not shared with third parties or used to train external public AI models.

Final Thoughts

At its core, genealogy is about preservation and communication. Having files full of historical evidence is wonderful, but those records lose their utility if they remain locked away in digital folders, unseen by the rest of the family. Tools like Family Infographics offer a highly visual, accessible entry point for the younger generation and non-genealogists to appreciate the struggles and triumphs of their ancestors.

By turning hard-earned historical research into a visual heirloom, we can make our ancestors' stories a daily part of our family's living space.

Here is an example of a Family Inforgraphic from my own ancestors. 

Are you asking the wrong questions about AI and genealogy?

 

A recent article from the Deseret News here in Utah was entitled "Utahns' love/hate relationship with artificial intelligence." See 

Deseret News. “Here’s What Utahns Say about AI as Data Center Controversy Rages.” May 22, 2026. https://www.deseret.com/business/2026/05/21/utah-data-centers-kevin-oleary-artificial-intelligence-ai-deseret-news-poll/

AI is a complex computer program. It is not a thing or a belief that you can have a positive or negative opinion about. One factor not discussed in the article is the literacy rate in Utah. The current rate is about 91%. See 

Govitviwat, Teetad. “Utah Literacy Rates Reveal Gaps Despite National Standing.” Featured. The Daily Utah Chronicle, September 16, 2025. https://dailyutahchronicle.com/2025/09/16/utah-literacy-rates-reveal-gaps-despite-national-standing/

Unfortunately, the article about the poll on the popularity of AI did not bother to include any kind of realistic evaluation of the literacy rate or educational level of the people involved in the poll and instead focused on the economic level of those people asking about AI.

In looking at the conclusions expressed by the Deseret News article, it is clear that only about 60% of the respondents used an AI in any form. How could the other 40% of the respondents who have never used AI have an opinion about its utility, usefulness, or any other aspect of AI usage? The real question here involves the latest news about the use of AI by Google. Here is a quote from an article entitled "Google I/O 2026: No more blue links – Google Search undergoes biggest AI transformation in 25 years."

At Google I/O 2026, Google unveiled a sweeping AI-focused revamp of Search, powered by the new Gemini 3.5 Flash model. The update brings features such as conversational queries, AI-driven agents, advanced coding assistance, and more tailored user experiences. 

“Google I/O 2026: No More Blue Links – Google Search Undergoes Biggest AI Transformation in 25 Years.” FE Tech Bytes, May 20, 2026. https://www.financialexpress.com/life/technology-google-io-2026-no-more-blue-links-google-search-undergoes-biggest-ai-transformation-in-25-years-4245692/.

If you're using a computer to do a Google search, you are using AI and you can say the same thing about Microsoft. 

Genealogy is a dense research and knowledge-based pursuit. It takes a great deal of effort and understanding. Over the past three years, I have been working overtime to understand and develop ways of using this new technology to enhance and speed up my genealogical research. My main conclusion is that AI helps to overcome many of the routine and very repetitious activities involved in genealogical research. There is no question that it is going to revolutionize the way that genealogical research is conducted in the future. 

Now, what about fabrications and hallucinations? These issues are old news. It is apparent that Google, for one, has resolved this issue through creating an AI-based workflow that completely avoids the issues. The workflow consists of using Google Gems, Google Gemini, and NotebookLM to force AI to address specific research issues without varying into speculation and what is inaccurately called hallucination.

Unfortunately, I still see a significant portion of the genealogical community that is still paper-based. This is especially true when I see genealogists pulling suitcase-fulls of documents into the library each day. 

To repeat, AI is a complex computer program, and it can be used productively to do research in complex subjects such as genealogy. Start learning.