Mori Magazine

The Growing Role of AI in Genealogy Research

The Growing Role of AI in Genealogy Research

Genealogy research is being transformed by artificial intelligence (AI). As this technology continues to advance, it provides both new opportunities and challenges for genealogists. In this post, we'll explore some of the key pros and cons of utilizing AI for family history research, and look at how genealogists can critically evaluate these new tools.

On the pro side, AI has the potential to significantly accelerate certain aspects of genealogical research. AI-powered online services can now automatically scan and index historical records, like census data, at scale. This expands the volume of records available to search through. AI can also uncover connections in data that humans may have missed. Some services use algorithms to automatically build out family trees by linking records together. This can provide genealogists with new family tree hints to investigate.

However, there are also valid concerns about over-reliance on AI tools. Algorithmic links between records could be inaccurate, leading to improper connections in family trees. And important contextual details in records may be missed without human analysis. There are also growing concerns around privacy and ethics when personal data is processed at scale by AI.

When evaluating new AI-powered genealogy services, genealogists should critically examine how the technology works under the hood. Key questions to ask include: What algorithms are being used? How accurate are they? What data training sets were used? Are the AI capabilities overstated? Does the company provide transparency around its technology?

AI holds much promise for genealogy, but a healthy skepticism and critical examination of these new tools is warranted. By better understanding the strengths and limitations of emerging genealogical AI systems, family historians can utilize them as a useful aid, while avoiding sole over-reliance on these automated tools.