What's New from FamilySearch at RootsTech 2026

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivpBeGkxjzw&t=933s

Here is a summary from this recently uploaded video with announcements about changes coming to the familysearch.org website in 2026. You may wish to check back to the RootsTech 2026 website for any additional announcements that were not contained in this video. The numbers in parentheses indicate the time in the video where the subject is discussed. 

AI-Powered Full Text Search

• Graduation from Labs: The Full Text Search tool has officially moved out of FamilySearch Labs and is now a permanent feature on the site [07:25].

• Scale and Scope: FamilySearch has utilized AI for automated transcription to make historical images searchable. The database grew from 100 million images in 2024 to 1.2 billion images in 2025, covering records like land deeds, probate records, and censuses that were previously unindexed [16:00].

• User Corrections: A new software feature allows users to edit AI-generated transcripts [12:35]. This allows researchers to correct misread names or words, improving the record's searchability for the entire community [12:46].

• Advanced Filtering: The search interface now includes a new layout for easier filtering and specific keyword searching, such as using quotes for exact names or plus signs to find individuals mentioned together in a record [22:10].

AI Research Assistant

• Home Page Integration: The AI Research Assistant is now a "widget" on the FamilySearch home page that automatically surfaces "tree-extending hints"—potential relatives found in records who are not yet in your tree [28:06].

• Verification Logic: The system applies over a dozen automated filters to check for duplicates and ensure biographical consistency before presenting a hint to the user [30:18].

• Current Impact: The tool is already helping users add approximately 10,000 new names to the Family Tree daily [32:01].

Future Innovations: Contextual Reasoning

• AI as a Reasoning Partner: FamilySearch is developing a concept where AI doesn't just match text but applies historical reasoning to help users make decisions [35:16].

• Plausibility Checking: Upcoming features will analyze a record's "contextual logic," such as checking if a parent's age is within childbearing years or if a move is geographically plausible for the time period [36:19].

• Cultural Nuance: The AI is being trained to recognize complex naming conventions, such as Norwegian patronymics or German naming patterns, to reduce the "cognitive load" on the researcher [36:28].

RootsTech 2026 & Labs

• FamilySearch Labs: The site continues to host experimental features at familysearch.org/labs, where users can test upcoming tools and provide direct feedback to engineering teams [42:09].

• RootsTech Dates: The conference will take place March 5–7, 2026, both in-person in Salt Lake City and virtually at rootstech.org [50:09].