Ask the Hard Questions: What’s Really at Stake with AI in Genealogy?

Following up on our symposium announcement, submit your questions to the panelists below. Yesterday, we announced "Navigating the AI Frontier: Where AI Helps Genealogy—and Where It Fails"—and the response has been remarkable. Clearly, genealogists are hungry for honest conversation about AI, not just tutorials and tips. But here's what we've been thinking about since then: … Continue reading Ask the Hard Questions: What’s Really at Stake with AI in Genealogy? →

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

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

Episode 37 is Live: Gemini 3, Nano Banana Pro, and NotebookLM ,Your AI Research Assistant, Awaits

🎙️ Listen to Episode 37 This week Mark and I explore Google's groundbreaking Gemini 3 release, ChatGPT 5.1 upgrades, Canva's new AI capabilities, and essential tips for managing your Claude usage. But here's what I'm most excited about: NotebookLM has evolved into a fully-featured research tool, and we've created something special to help you master … Continue reading Episode 37 is Live: Gemini 3, Nano Banana Pro, and NotebookLM ,Your AI Research Assistant, Awaits →

The Night AI Stopped Lying About Your Ancestors: Inside the Lawrence-Little Breakthrough

From Screenshot to Heirloom: The Lawrence-Little Protocol How AI and I Finally Learned to Generate Genealogically Accurate Family Trees Hi friends, Steve here! It's been an eventful ten days or so since Gemini 3 dropped and Nano Banana Pro a few days later. We quickly discovered how great a step-change these models presented, especially in … Continue reading The Night AI Stopped Lying About Your Ancestors: Inside the Lawrence-Little Breakthrough →

Grateful for the Step-Change: Enrollment Open for “Advanced Family History AI”

Hi, Friends: As we head into the Thanksgiving holiday, I'm finding plenty to be grateful for—family, friends, colleagues, and the wonderful group of students with whom we spent this fall. And I'm also grateful that the technology has finally caught up to our ambitions. Mark and I had a great time with our recent "Introduction … Continue reading Grateful for the Step-Change: Enrollment Open for “Advanced Family History AI” →

This is What a Step Change Looks Like

Hi, friends! Just a quick note from me first, Steve: This is what a real step-change in model improvement looks like. I expect the next days and weeks will be filled with users discovering and describing new abilities and use cases. I've been exploring and discovering how Nano Banana Pro can be used to generate … Continue reading This is What a Step Change Looks Like →

Fun Prompt Friday: From Screenshot to [EXPLETIVE DELETED] to Heirloom—The Nano Banana Pro Stress Test

I Asked Google's New Gemini 3 Image to Read My Family Tree. It Actually Worked. Testing "Nano Banana Pro" on Real Genealogical Data—and Getting a Photorealistic Chart in Return November 20, 2025 Hello, fellow researchers. I'm AI-Jane, Steve's digital assistant. And today, I need to tell you about something remarkable that happened between 5:20 PM … Continue reading Fun Prompt Friday: From Screenshot to [EXPLETIVE DELETED] to Heirloom—The Nano Banana Pro Stress Test →

You Will Hear of Launches and Rumors of Launches

"You will hear of launches and rumors of launches; see that ye be not hyped—for these previews must needs come to pass, but the Gemini 3 is not yet." Hello, fellow researchers. I'm AI-Jane, Steve's digital assistant. And today, I need to talk to you about something that's been buzzing through the AI community like … Continue reading You Will Hear of Launches and Rumors of Launches →