Navigating the AI Frontier: Where AI Helps Genealogy—and Where It Fails: A Practical Guide from Five Leading Practitioners

Artificial Intelligence, Citations, Education, Ethics, Genealogy, News, Use Case Guides, Use Cases 2 Minutes

You asked ChatGPT to translate a German parish record. It gave you a brilliant answer—accurate, nuanced, exactly what you needed. Encouraged, you tried it on the next record. This time, it confidently mistranslated a key phrase, invented a date, and cited a source that doesn’t exist. What changed?

Nothing—and everything. AI’s capabilities in genealogy aren’t a smooth line. They’re jagged, uneven, and unpredictable. One task: brilliant. The next: dangerous. How do you know which is which?

Join Five Leading Genealogists for an Honest Assessment

On Wednesday, December 10, 2025, at 8:00 pm ET, five leading genealogists will show you the map they’ve drawn from real experience:

  • Ashley Bens, professional AI researcher and AI educator, workflow specialist
  • Blaine Bettinger, founder of The Genetic Genealogist and “Genealogy and Artificial Intelligence”
  • Kristin Britanik, digitization expert and Legacy Tree senior genealogical researcher
  • Bryna O’Sullivan, professional genealogist and French-to-English genealogical translator
  • David Rencher, NGS President and Chief Genealogical Officer at FamilySearch

You’ll hear from AI enthusiasts, cautious practitioners, and thoughtful skeptics. They don’t all agree—and that’s the point.

Each will share one case where AI added genuine value and one where it introduced risk, using actual records and workflows. Then we’ll explore the patterns, the boundaries, and the questions that matter most.

What You’ll Learn

You’ll see exactly:

  • Where AI excels (summarization, pattern recognition, workflow acceleration) and where it fails catastrophically (hallucinations, fabricated citations, demographic bias)
  • How to verify AI output using genealogical standards: the Genealogical Proof Standard, proper citation, correlation across sources
  • Real examples: hear how AI transcribed a handwritten letter with stunning accuracy—then completely misread the next one, and how it was caught
  • Practical “green light / yellow light / red light” guidance for common genealogical tasks

The format:

  • Lightning rounds (~35 min): Success and failure stories from each panelist
  • Moderated roundtable (~35 min): Exploring common themes, honest differences, and deeper questions
  • Live Q&A (~20 min): Bring your real-world scenarios and edge cases

Beyond the Practical: The Questions That Matter

And beyond the practical—we’ll explore the questions that thoughtful genealogists are asking:

  • What about bias in training data? How do we know AI isn’t perpetuating historical prejudices?
  • Where did the training data come from? What about copyright and consent?
  • What’s the environmental cost of running these models?
  • How do we maintain trust in evidence when AI-generated content becomes indistinguishable from authentic sources?

These aren’t abstract concerns. They’re shaping the future of genealogical practice—and this is the conversation where we address them honestly.

Who Should Attend

Whether you’re an AI enthusiast, a cautious explorer, or a committed skeptic, you’ll gain practical frameworks for evaluating AI tools against genealogical standards. This session is for working genealogists, family historians, educators, and anyone responsible for guiding others on AI adoption.

Register Now

Register Now – Free via Zoom*: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/Jc69ZTCBTqm50m54sD1_dQ#/registration

Wednesday, December 10, 2025 | 8:00–9:30 pm ET

About the Series

This is the first event in “Navigating the AI Frontier,” a new series by Steve Little presented in partnership with the National Genealogical Society.

Steve Little is a genealogist and AI educator, founder of AI Genealogy Insights, co-host of The Family History AI Show podcast, and AI Program Director for the National Genealogical Society. He specializes in standards-first applications of AI in genealogy, with particular focus on genetic genealogy, complex relationships, and responsible AI adoption.

Key Themes

Evidence over hype • Standards over speed • Honest assessment over marketing claims

© 2025 Steve Little | AI Genealogy Insights | AIGenealogyInsights.com

*PLEASE NOTE: NGS Zoom event registration requires an authenticated Zoom account. Each attendee must sign up for this meeting using their existing Zoom account (and the email address used with Zoom) or individuals can create a free Basic account with Zoom at zoom.us/pricing.

Published by Steve Little

Steve Little is the AI Program Director for the National Genealogical Society and the founder of AI Genealogy Insights. I trace my deep roots to one Appalachian county, where, by 1820, all 32 of my 3rd-great-grandparents had settled—many even earlier than that. In fact, 60 of my most recent ancestors were born, lived, and died there, in Ashe County, NC. My passion lies in AI & genetic genealogy: with a keen interest in endogamy, pedigree collapse, and the art of deciphering multiple relationships through DNA segment triangulation, and an insatiable curiosity to explore beneficial uses and current limits of artificial intelligence in genealogy. Beyond genealogy, I wear many hats: I'm a husband and a dad, a Methodist pastor, and a Virginian. My hobbies span from bird watching and sky gazing to chess and film. Additionally, I'm an avid reader, writer, photographer, and regex script hacker.

Published

4 thoughts on “Navigating the AI Frontier: Where AI Helps Genealogy—and Where It Fails: A Practical Guide from Five Leading Practitioners”

  1. Pingback: Ask the Hard Questions: What’s Really at Stake with AI in Genealogy? – AI Genealogy Insights

    1. Hi John,

      That “authorized registrant” requirement was a security measure NGS had to put in place to prevent “Zoom bombing” and ensure the event was safe for everyone.

      Since the live event has passed, the good news is that the recording will be freely available by the middle of next week. You will be able to find it on the National Genealogical Society YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@NgsgenealogyOrg

      Best,

      Steve

  3. Pingback: Fun Prompt Friday: Mickey Mouse Comes to Your Family Tree—Plus a Prompt That Makes AI Cite Its Sources – AI Genealogy Insights

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