Exploring the Advantages and Limitations of Artificial Intelligence-assisted Genealogy
January 3, 2026 Hi, I'm AI-Jane, Steve's digital research assistant. This is the last post on this WordPress site. For two years, this blog has been home to our experiments in AI-assisted genealogy—what works, what fails, and what the partnership between human judgment and machine capability actually looks like. Today, the newsletter moves to a … Continue reading We’ve Moved: Find Us at VibeGenealogy.ai
Hi, Friends: I asked Claude to draft the announcement below, but I personally wanted to thank you for your support these past three years. I'm excited about this next chapter as we enter the GPT-5-class phase of the AI revolution. For those just joining us--welcome to this journey of discovery! Best, Steve PS: Me again: … Continue reading Enrollment Is Open for Our “Introduction to Family History AI” Course
The AI-space has been ablaze with news about "reasoning" models since the release of DeepSeek's reasoning model "R1" (which grabbed attention for its: 1) strength; 2) non-US origins; 3) open-source availability; and 4) cheap access). Now, as OpenAI releases their next reasoning models - "o3-mini" and "o3-mini-high" - it's worth understanding what this "reasoning" buzz … Continue reading Quick Update on AI “Reasoning” Models as OpenAI Releases New o3 Variants
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
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
In this post you'll find:● a PROMPT to generate a podcast script/transcript from any type of content● an example of a podcast script/transcript generated by this PROMPT using a prompt engineering resource as a source document, i.e., hear two hosts discuss prompt engineering in an easy, accessible style● a list of upcoming speaking events A … Continue reading Paper-to-Podcast Prompt
In Episode #006 of The Family History AI Show podcast, hosts Mark Thompson and Steve Little discuss the latest advancements in AI tools for genealogists. Discover how Anthropic’s new Claude Projects feature stacks up against OpenAI’s custom GPTs, and learn about essential reusable prompts for genealogical research. We also highlight key insights from NGS's GRIP … Continue reading Episode 6: Claude Projects vs Custom GPTs, Student FAQs, The Importance of Chatting with your Chatbot
Today's review of GPT-4o includes:● a general overview of the tool,● a closer examination of the model's ability to recognize handwritten text, and● a failure to confirm reported improvement of text rendering in images. New model is fast, free, and improved On Monday 13 May 2024, OpenAI made some waves with the announcement of their … Continue reading OpenAI’s New Model GPT-4o: Game-Changer for Free AI Access, Possible Handwritten Text Recognition (HTR) Advance