If you have been following the online news about artificial intelligence or AI, you will already know that AI applications are expanding at a astronomical rate. Some of the AI features that have been implemented over the past few years by MyHeritage.com include Record Matches, Smart Matching™, DNA tools and a bundle of photo enhancement programs. But now, there is a giant leap in even more sophisticated chatbot features for MyHeritage.com. I will be presenting three live classes at RootsTech 2024 on "Using Artificial Intelligence Tools to Expand Your Genealogical Research Universe." You can see from this announcement, by February 29th, 2024, I will probably have a lot more to talk about than I had previously began planning. See RootsTech.org. The schedule of the classes will be posted in the next few weeks.
I fortunately had a sneak preview of the features and now they have been announced. Here are some of the features as set out in an email to me for release to the public.
TEL AVIV, Israel & LEHI, Utah, December 27, 2023 — MyHeritage, the leading global family history service, announced today the release of two groundbreaking features that mark the next frontier in family history research: AI Record Finder™ and AI Biographer™. AI Record Finder™ revolutionizes genealogy like ChatGPT revolutionized searching the internet: it is an interactive, intelligent, free-text chat to help the user locate relevant historical records about a person of interest in MyHeritage’s vast database of 20 billion records. AI Biographer™ automatically compiles a rich narrative about an individual’s life using information from historical records that match the person, creating a Wikipedia-like biography about anyone. Narratives are enriched with relevant historical context using AI and are easy to share. MyHeritage is the only service to offer such groundbreaking features for family history, and the first to leverage conversational AI for searching historical records. The two features are integrated, allowing users to generate an AI Biography™ for individuals they find using AI Record Finder™. AI Biographies™ may also be generated directly for individuals in family trees on MyHeritage.
It has not been hard to predict using chatbot technology for a data intensive pursuit such as genealogy. The only issue once the landslide of chatbots became available in the last year was when it would happen. It is also predictable that MyHeritage.com the technological leader of the large, online genealogy websites would be the first to implement chatbots.
Here are some more detailed decriptions of the two new products from my email notification.
AI Record FinderTM
Until now, searching for historical records on online genealogy platforms like MyHeritage has been very similar to using a regular internet search engine. One entered names and other terms into dedicated fields in a search form, and the search engine returned a large number of search results. Then, it was necessary to comb through the results to discover relevant information. AI Record Finder™ transforms this experience by enabling users to converse with an AI assistant in a chat to quickly find records about their ancestors, relatives, or other deceased individuals. Users can still use the traditional search engine on MyHeritage, but AI Record Finder™ adds an additional chat mode that increases the chances that users may be able to find elusive records they have never found before, thanks to the power of AI.
The chat is like an interview with a friendly concierge that the user can converse with in one of two modes: casual or formal. AI Record Finder™ processes the information the user enters, and understands what additional details are necessary to help narrow down the search results. It guides the user by asking the relevant questions according to the context and information provided by the user, to find the most relevant records about the person the user is searching for. Once located, the records can be reviewed and the details saved to the user’s family tree. AI Record Finder™ includes a seamless user interface, where historical records that are found appear directly within the chat.
AI BiographerTM
AI Biographer™ creates a rich Wikipedia-like biography summarizing a person’s life. This is especially useful for creating biographies about the billions of individuals who were not famous, and therefore do not appear in Wikipedia. An AI Biography™ can be created from historical records found via AI Record Finder™ and for deceased individuals within a user’s family tree on MyHeritage. AI Biographer™ utilizes MyHeritage’s acclaimed matching technologies to curate historical records and family tree profiles that pertain to the selected individual. All information from the pertinent records is then compiled into an biography that is enriched with photos and scanned documents, and in some cases, additional information from the web. The resulting biography includes the person’s immediate family, describes the main events of their life, and includes rich historical context and the origins of their surname. Each biography is a unique narrative that can be shared with family and friends, and saved for posterity. Facts listed in AI Biographies™ include footnotes and source citations, and link to the records from which they were obtained. Any inconsistencies within the information listed are noted. AI Biographies™ are saved as PDF files that are emailed to the user.
When created from the user’s family tree, an AI Biography™ is added to the family tree as a media item and tagged with the individual’s name, so that it is accessible through the MyHeritage mobile app and Family Tree Builder desktop software. The biography is included whenever the family tree is exported in GEDCOM format, ensuring that the enriched biographical information remains an integral part of the family tree. Biographies can easily be regenerated whenever new information becomes available. Additional entry points for generating an AI Biography™ such as from MyHeritage’s traditional form-based search engine, and from family tree profile pages, will be added soon.
“We’re constantly pushing the boundaries of genealogy to reinvent the way people can discover their family history as we implement a bold vision for genealogy in the 21st century” said Gilad Japhet, Founder and CEO of MyHeritage. “AI Record Finder™ is a disruptive feature that simplifies the way people can find information about their ancestors by making the search easier and more intuitive. AI Biographer™ curates the details about a person’s life into a compelling story. Not all our ancestors were famous, but they all deserve to be remembered! Together, these cutting-edge features strengthen MyHeritage’s position as the industry leader for innovative genealogy and continue our mission to make family history easier, more accessible, and more fun for everyone.”
AI Record Finder™ and AI Biographer™ both use automated third-party technology powered by OpenAI.
Availability, Cost, and Language Support
AI Record Finder™ and AI Biographer™ are currently accessible from desktop and mobile web browsers. Support for both features on the MyHeritage mobile app will be added soon.
AI Record Finder™ is free for limited use. To submit an unlimited number of chat messages, and to view and save historical records to the family tree, a Data or Complete subscription is required. Users can create a few AI Biographies™ for free. Beyond that, additional use of AI Biographer™ requires a Complete subscription.
AI Record Finder™ and AI Biographer™ are initially available in English and will support additional languages in the near future. It is possible to converse with AI Record Finder™ in multiple languages, but at launch, it responds in English only.
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