AI for Genealogy and Family History: Bringing the Past to Life

Family history is detective work. AI can help read old documents, organise findings and suggest where to look next, but it can also invent relatives.

• Transcribing handwriting in old letters, certificates and census pages.
• Translating records in other languages.
• Summarising long documents and local histories.
• Organising family trees, timelines and notes.
• Suggesting search strategies: spelling variants, record types and archives.
• Photo restoration and colourisation (label these as interpretations).
• Writing up family stories from your research.
• Explaining historical context: occupations, place names and customs.

• AI can fabricate ancestors, dates and relationships that sound plausible.
• Names and places were spelled and recorded inconsistently.
• Transcription errors are common with difficult handwriting.
• Online family trees often copy mistakes.
• Always cite original records such as certificates, registers and census returns.

• Living people: don't publish their details without consent.
• DNA data reveals information about relatives. Check privacy policies and sharing settings.
• Sensitive discoveries: unexpected parentage or family secrets need care.
• Cultural sensitivity around records of enslaved or displaced people.

1. Start with what you know, and work backwards.
2. Use AI to transcribe and suggest leads.
3. Confirm in original sources.
4. Record where each fact came from.
5. Back up your tree and documents.

AI can speed up reading and organising old records. The proof still comes from original documents, and care for living relatives matters.