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Rule #5: Everything you read in the media about AI is either outdated or wrong.
On May 19-20, 2026, Google held its I/O Conference and introduced a hundred new updates and apps. Here are three of the most prominent.
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: Outperforming many frontier models on core benchmarks, this model is built explicitly for speed (four times faster output tokens per second), coding, and running complex, rapid agentic loops.
- Gemini Spark: A brand-new 24/7 autonomous personal agent powered by Gemini 3.5. It runs continuously in the background on Google Cloud to handle multi-step workflows like sorting calendars, managing to-do lists, and acting on your behalf even when your devices are closed.
- Gemini Omni: A massive leap in multimodal capability that processes and generates any combination of video, voice, and text outputs seamlessly.
Google. “100 Things We Announced at I/O 2026.” May 20, 2026. https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/technology/ai/google-io-2026-all-our-announcements/.
Google. “A New Era for AI Search.” May 19, 2026. https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/search/search-io-2026/.
Google. “I/O 2026: Welcome to the Agentic Gemini Era.” May 19, 2026. https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/sundar-pichai-io-2026/.
You can expect other updates to be made almost daily. And yes, it is nearly impossible to keep up with the news.
Rule #6: Treat AI as you would a child of the same age, four years old. (This may change over time they may make to a five year old)
Genealogy is a complex pursuit involving high-level research skills. AI is a computer program. It is not a human partner or junior assistant. I have a friend whose husband has become addicted to talking to ChatGPT. I am also seeing a lot of comments online about this issue. Despite all its knowledge, AI has not spent hours in front of a microfilm reader. Despite all its knowledge, AI has not collected material from your relatives. AI did not live your life, nor did it live the lives of any of your relatives. Hey, I did not come to America on an immigrant ship. AI did not cross the plains to settle in the west of the United States. You are fooling yourself if you think that AI can understand human experience.
The foundational principle of "garbage in, garbage out" has applies directly to AI. For example, if you ask an AI, "I am interested in buying a shirt; do you have any suggestions?", the response will be incredibly generic. However, if you refine that query to, "I am interested in purchasing a shirt: size 16½, 34-inch sleeve, solid color, long sleeves, 80% cotton, and 20% polyester," you will receive a remarkably precise recommendation. Talking to AI about your personal feelings or your love life or genealogy in general, you will get the same kind of weird answers. As an example, many online reviewers judge the utility of various AI programs based on whether or not they are sympathetic. If you want sympathetic, get a dog or a cat.
High-quality prompts give an AI system the exact parameters it needs to deliver accurate, relevant answers. Expecting a flawless result without providing this context is mere wishful thinking. Think of a prompt as a recipe: using AI without explicit instructions is like asking an assistant to bake a cake by just tossing random ingredients into a bowl and hoping for the best.
There is a big difference between using AI as a search engine and using AI as a research tool. Google has built a research system using Gems as prompts, Gemini as the research force, and NotebookLM as the response container to limit fabrication or hallucination. again, referring to the online reviews. Many times, the reviewer compares one AI to another without actually giving it a systematic context.
just as living with a developing three-year-old can be a challenge, so AI is developing and is a challenge. like you would a fully grown, highly educated adult despite its seemingly unending ability to answer questions.
Here are the previous four previous rules:
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