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.