Category Archives: AI SIG

AI SIG

October AI SIG Notes

3 Cool Tools

  • RootsMagic 11
    • New version has first ‘draft’ of AI features for stand along genealogy software
    • AI Prompt Builder – uses data in your RootsMagic tree to write a custom AI prompt to copy to ChapGPT, etc.
    • Note – it doesn’t request research
  • FamilySearch Full Text Search
    • Has moved out of labs
    • Find in Search menu in main website
    • New features:
      • AI-generated summaries of records, including names and relationships.
      • Search fields for year, place, and image group number (DGS).
      • Almost 2 billion records from various countries and languages.
      • Ability to search by specific collections, which are grouped using digitization metadata.
      • Automatic translation of record summaries into your preferred language.
  • Perplexity Comet
    • LLM built into the Chrome web browser.  The future of AI?  
    • Can remember and compare things across multiple tabs – not just things entered in the chat interface
    • Can, if you let it, access your google email and calendar.
    • Can automate tasks
    • Can ‘use’ your browser – open tabs, click items, fill out forms
  • Resources
    • The Family History AI Show, by Mark Thompson & Steve Little
    • Genealogy and Artificial Intelligence Facebook Group
    • Legacy Family Tree Webinars
AI SIG

September AI SIG Notes

Generating Images with AI

  • Why Images Matter in Genealogy
    • Genealogy often lacks photographs of earlier generations.
    • AI-generated visuals help illustrate stories where no images exist.
    • Engages younger family members and makes history feel more relatable.
  • Why Images Matter in Genealogy
    • Genealogy often lacks photographs of earlier generations.
    • AI-generated visuals help illustrate stories where no images exist.
    • Engages younger family members and makes history feel more relatable.
  • Applications
    • Storytelling: Pair AI illustrations with written family histories.
    • Family History Books: Fill in gaps when photos don’t exist.
    • Reunion Displays: Create immersive posters or slideshows.
    • Youth Engagement: Use AI visuals to spark curiosity in younger relatives.
    • Genealogy Society Presentations: Illustrate local history or migration stories.
  • AI Image Generators
    • DALL·E (via ChatGPT), MidJourney, Stable Diffusion, Adobe Firefly, Google Gemini, Canva, Leonardo AI
  • Prompt Writing Tips
    • Be specific: time period, clothing, setting, mood.
    • Example: “Create an image of a 19th-century Swedish farm family standing outside their wooden home, midsummer celebration.”
    • Try multiple prompts, adjust style, compare results.
    • Consider choosing artistic vs. realistic styles depending on project.
    • Try imageprompt.org
  • Ethical and Practical Considerations
    • Historical Accuracy vs. Artistic Imagination
    • AI portraits are representations, not authentic likenesses.
    • Scenes may capture “the feel” of an era, not exact details.
  • Transparency
    • Always label images as AI-generated.
    • Use captions like “AI-generated illustration of…”.
  • Avoiding Misrepresentation
    • Don’t pass off AI images as real historical evidence.
  • Copyright & Usage Rights
    • Most tools allow personal/family history use, but check terms before publishing widely.
AI SIG

August AI SIG Notes

  • AI-Assisted Writing
  • It’s everywhere!
  • Chatbots, like ChapGPT
  • Embedded in Word 365 and Google docs
  • Not just plain text outputs
    • Different formats – document, presentation slides, tri-fold brochure
    • Downloadable doc, pdf, xls files
  • Clearly OK applications
    • Bread-and-butter letters, like thank you or condolence notes
    • Work templates, like meeting minutes, project trackers, etc built in to Word and Google docs
    • Ancestor profile based on genealogy software output
    • Event schedule from outline
    • First draft from outline
  • Tips
    • Can ask for help getting started
    • Can include guidance in prompt – length, tone, audience, purpose, specific things to include
    • Always read and tweak, either with additional prompts or direct edits
  • Gray areas
    • No-input writing
    • Final draft polishing
    • New ideas
  • Ethical issues, again
    • Accuracy
    • Copyright 
    • Disclosure

AI SIG

July AI SIG Notes

News:

Writing Basic Prompts

  • Steve Little’s 5 Components of a good prompt:
    • A Role: Begin by imagining you’re recruiting an expert for a specific task. What’s their profession? What expertise should they possess? By defining a role, you’re setting the stage and giving the LLM a context to operate within. (Why? https://symbio6.nl/en/blog/role-prompting-ai)
    • A Goal: What do you want to achieve? This is your endgame. Being explicit here ensures that the AI has a clear understanding of your expectations.
    • A Text: Since genealogy is grounded in factual research, provide the text you’d like the AI to process. By supplying the exact text, you mitigate the risk of the AI generating fictitious information (a phenomenon known as “hallucinating”).
    • A Task: Simplify your request. Break it down into manageable steps, just as you’d explain a process to a bright but inexperienced intern. This ensures the LLM knows the sequence of operations it should perform.
    • A Flask: While the term “flask” is playfully chosen for the rhyme, it represents the container or format you’d like your response in. This could range from a narrative report to a structured database table.
  • Lisa Lisson’s 4-Part Strategy:
    • Define the AI’s role
    • Provide Thorough Context
    • Make Specific Requests
    • Layer Your Prompts (layering means asking a question, getting the answer, then asking a followup question)
    • Example: “Act as an expert-level genealogy researcher to help me research my third great-grandmother. Here’s what I know: Her name was Joanna, possibly Barrett (maiden name unknown). She was born in Ireland around 1824 and immigrated to America between 1849-1851. Her port of entry is unknown. Her daughter, also named Joanna, was born in 1851, probably in Virginia or DC. By 1855, elder Joanna was married to WR Wilmouth and living in Surry County, North Carolina, where no other Irish immigrants are found. Please create a research plan to investigate her earlier life and immigration path.”
    • An example from Martijn Andrea on FB: ‘You are an expert genealogist.The goal is to paraphrase content of a genealogy source without altering its meaning to be included into a genealogy report. The writing style of genealogy reports is a formal, academic tone suitable for use in scholarly works. Summarize the following text into a narrative of 2-3 paragraphs. Maintain a dry, factual tone throughout the narrative. Avoid using emotive language or making subjective judgments. Use British English format.Use the English punctuation style. If names of people, family relationships and locations are mentioned, include them as they appear in the facts. If dates or specific time periods are mentioned in the facts, include them in your narrative. For dates, use the international convention and use 3 letter months (example: 2 Nov 1780).’

Try an AI prompt generator like https://originality.ai/blog/ai-prompt-generator

Resources

AI SIG

May AI SIG Notes

AI-Enhanced Search

  • Never trust, always verify!
  • Google Gemini
    • Produces the AI insights at the top of some searches
    • Click on the little link icon to get a sidebar with links to webpages.
  • Google Lens
  • ChatGPT
    • Click the Search button or globe icon below the prompt box.
    • In the results, you can click on the gray source bubbles and see the underlying search results for each paragraph.  You can also click on the sources bubble at the bottom of the result and get a sidebar with links.  You will only get the links the AI used, and not a complete search result list like google gives you.
  • Perplexity
    • Two levels of free search – search and research.  Research requires a free account.
    • Search gives you a tab for the answer and a tab for the sources.
  • Resources
    • PC Mag: https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-ai-search-engines
    • The Family History AI Show, by Mark Thompson & Steve Little
    • Genealogy and Artificial Intelligence Facebook Group
    • RootsTech will have 25 presentations (March 6-8): https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/
AI SIG

April AI SIG Notes

  • Show & Tell
  • Ethics and Privacy Issues
  • Accuracy
      • Large language models deal in probability, not truth.  Outputs must be checked for accuracy.
      • Ask the AI to cite sources – and check that they are real
  • Training Data
  • Large language models are only as good as training data.
  • Biased data leads to biased outputs: article
    • Did the company have rights to use training data?
      • Google – uses search, web, etc
      • Facebook – uses posts on FB.  Also used a database of pirated books: article
      • Beginning to sign contracts: article
  • Confidential Data
    • When you go to, say, chatgpt.com, everything you input may get added to training data, eventually.  Don’t include confidential or sensitive information.  (AI is actually good at helping to anonymize data, such as generating lists of names to substitute for the real names.)Assume everything that you type on the public internet is added to training data.New downloadable models run on your personal device.  Your interactions are not necessarily uploaded as training data. 
    • Check the terms of use!
  • Copyright, Trademarks & Privacy
    • Purely AI-generated content cannot be copyrighted in the US. AI makes it really easy to generate illegal derivatives of copyrighted content.
    • May you use AI to create images using Coke cans, Lady Gaga’s face  or graphic violence?
      • Most products have restrictions and guidelines.  Grok (the X product) does not.
  • Authorship
    • When and how do we disclose the assistance of AI?  If it is being used as a tool in a way similar to a dictionary or word processor – ie, as a tool whose results get filtered through a human brain – probably not.  If it is doing unaudited work, probably.
    • How to make sure future AI products can be distinguished from “original” products… such as images, letters?
  • Environmental Issues
    • Running a new machine learning model on a huge training dataset, and offering it to millions of users, requires huge amounts of electricity and water.  Article
  • Resources
    • The Family History AI Show, by Mark Thompson & Steve LittleGenealogy and Artificial Intelligence Facebook Group
    • University of South Florida has written a very useful LibGuide on using AI: website
  • Articles Recommended by ChapGPT

Accuracy: Synthetic Heritage: Online platforms, deceptive genealogy and the ethics of algorithmically generated memory

Bias:  Ethical Challenges and Solutions of Generative AI

Respect for the Deceased:  AI Developments in Genealogy and How They Impact You

Copyright:  Generative AI in Focus: Copyright Office’s Latest Report

Terms of Use:  Navigating the Legal Landscape: Generative AI and Copyright Law

Data Sharing:  Privacy Challenges and Research Opportunities for Genomic Data

Living Relatives:  Ethical Considerations: Navigating Privacy and AI in Family History

Citation/Disclosure:  Disclosing Use of AI for Writing Assistance in Genealogy

Ethical Research: AI Developments in Genealogy and How They Impact You

AI SIG

March AI SIG Notes

  • Show & Tell
  • Basic technique – ChatGPT and custom GPTs
    • Go to chatgpt.com and create an account
    • Click on Explore GPTs and search or browse
    • Once you’ve used it, a custom GPT should come up in your sidebar every time you log in to chatgpt.com
    • The free account has limits on some activities, like uploading photos for analysis.