Before we dive into this week’s terrible term, let’s revisit why Loathsome Jargon exists. It all started with a simple, searing dislike—mine—for jargon. Those convoluted, confidence-draining buzzwords that make perfectly good ideas sound like a secret society’s code language. AI, in particular, is a buzzing hive of these horrors. But here’s the truth: behind many … Continue reading Loathsome Jargon: Context Window
Category: Artificial Intelligence
Fun Prompt Friday: Narration
Welcome back to Fun Prompt Friday! Last week, we got our hands dirty with the art of extraction, teaching our favorite AI tools how to dig through unstructured texts and unearth rich, structured nuggets of information. If you’ve ever wanted a machine that could comb through raw data and deliver it to you on a … Continue reading Fun Prompt Friday: Narration
Loathsome Jargon: An AI Glossary for Genealogists
I hate jargon with a white-hot passion; the same goes for lingo and terminology. I try to avoid jargon like the plague. (Apparently, however, that fussiness doesn't extend to clichés.) We've probably all noticed that some folks toss out buzzwords to impress others, perhaps as an attempt to bolster their own credibility and camouflage their … Continue reading Loathsome Jargon: An AI Glossary for Genealogists
Fun Prompt Friday: Extraction
This is the first of three "Fun Prompt Friday" posts to start the new year, introducing a set of AI tools to empower researchers with the basic AI skills to advance their family history research. The basic unit of AI genealogy is the USE CASE, a task that a generative model can accomplish as well … Continue reading Fun Prompt Friday: Extraction
The 2025 AI Genealogy Do-Over
For 2025, I've begun an AI Genealogy Do-Over with a kicker of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. The year 2024 was a remarkable time to explore the benefits and limits of artificial intelligence for genealogy and family history. There was no shortage of new AI developments to try, and I expect 2025 will be even … Continue reading The 2025 AI Genealogy Do-Over
I Asked ChatGPT’s New “Reasoning” Model to Craft a Research Plan–Here’s What Happened:
On Thursday 5 December 2024, the creators of ChatGPT kicked-off their "Twelve Days of OpenAI" by releasing the full version of their "reasoning" model, named "o1." Teased and expected for months, the reasoning model was known by the codename "Strawberry" since spring 2024, and a weaker version, "o1-preview," had been accessible to paid ChatGPT Plus … Continue reading I Asked ChatGPT’s New “Reasoning” Model to Craft a Research Plan–Here’s What Happened:
Top Ten AI Genealogy Breakthroughs of 2024
Hi Genealogy Friends and Generative AI Enthusiasts! At 2 PM ET, Wednesday 20 November 2024, I'll be hosting a free Legacy Family Tree Webinar. Discover new ways artificial intelligence assists genealogical research in 2024. From exciting full-text search to emerging voice interfaces, this year marked a significant shift in how we explore family history. We'll … Continue reading Top Ten AI Genealogy Breakthroughs of 2024
Friday PROMPT Fun: Encouraging Bad(?) Behavior (and a podcast update)
Fully aware that we are venturing into the deep end of the pool, today we explore possible insightfulness and creativity in large language models. Today we PROMPT our chatbots to EXTRAPOLATE, HYPOTHESIZE, and SPECULATE. Obvious caveats abound: already susceptible to hallucinations (factual misstatements), here we are explicitly directing the AI to envision--to imagine--beyond the four … Continue reading Friday PROMPT Fun: Encouraging Bad(?) Behavior (and a podcast update)