As genealogists, we know the importance of keeping detailed research logs. Today, I’m excited to share insights from my recent project on Isabella Weatherford, demonstrating how I used both traditional methods and AI assistance to log my research effectively. In previous blog posts, I shared how I used Artificial Intelligence to help me form a research objective, transcribe and organize a 57-page pension file for the timeline, make a locality guide for Dallas County,...
In this episode of the Research Like a Pro Genealogy podcast, Diana and Nicole discuss the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in genealogy. Diana shares that she took a course on AI and read the book “Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI” by Ethan Mollick, finding it to be helpful and informative. The book discusses the history of AI and how it can be used. The author emphasizes the importance of experimenting with AI to...
One of the challenging parts of using DNA evidence in genealogical research is that it involves discovering information about living people. These living people are the sources for the DNA information we would like to use as evidence. They take a DNA test, then we analyze the match information and use it as evidence to answer a genealogical research question. As we go about finding DNA evidence for our research questions, there are at least...
In this episode of the Research Like a Pro Genealogy podcast, Diana and Nicole discuss using Airtable AI tools to evaluate DNA matches. They explain that Airtable AI can make writing about DNA much more efficient and explore how these cutting-edge features can be integrated into genealogical workflows. The hosts focus on Airtable AI’s capabilities in long text fields, where users can write paragraphs, summarize information, and extract details into lists. They provide step-by-step instructions...
As genealogists, we often get excited about diving into records and searching for clues about our ancestors. However, taking the time to create a solid research plan can make our efforts much more productive. In this post, we’ll explore the elements of effective research planning and how artificial intelligence (AI) tools can assist in the process. Why Research Planning Matters Research planning helps us: Stay focused on our research objective Pick up where we left...
In this episode of the Research Like a Pro Genealogy podcast, Diana and Nicole explore using AI to find research questions and write objectives. They discuss how AI can analyze your family tree data and suggest potential research questions. Diana shares her experience using a GEDCOM file with a custom GPT to analyze her pedigree for the Isabella Weatherford project. She explains how to create a GEDCOM file and use the Family Tree Expert custom...
Welcome back to our “Research Like a Pro with AI” series! In this blog post. I’ll explore how artificial intelligence can enhance our locality research process. Using examples from my ongoing Isabella Weatherford project, I’ll demonstrate how AI helped create a comprehensive locality guide for Dallas County, Texas, in the 1870s. Why Locality Guides Matter Before diving into the AI-assisted process, let’s remind ourselves why locality guides are crucial: They provide historical context for our...
In this episode of the Research Like a Pro Genealogy Podcast, Nicole and Diana interview Steve Little, the National Genealogical Society Artificial Intelligence Program Director. Steve explains what Large Language Models are and their strengths, including summarization, extraction, generation, and translation. He discusses how AI can be used in genealogy to extract names, dates, and relationships from text, assist with genealogical writing and translating documents, transcribe printed and handwritten text, and transform text to different...
Welcome back to my series on Isabella Weatherford! In part one, I used AI to explore research questions and write the research objective: The objective of this research phase is to examine the economic and social conditions in Dallas County, Texas, in the early 1870s and their influence on Isabella D Weatherford’s life and marriage prospects. Isabella was born on 4 Mar 1858 in Missouri; she first married John H. Carpenter on 16 Jan 1874...
In this episode of the Research Like a Pro podcast, Diana and Nicole interview Mark Thompson, a professional genealogist specializing in digitizing and archiving family memorabilia and genetic genealogy. Mark shares his expertise on using artificial intelligence (AI) tools to analyze family photographs. Here are some key points from the interview: Benefits of AI face tagging: AI face tagging is a huge time saver and makes it easier to find photos in your digital archive....
