Using AI in Genealogy

Thanks for such a warm reception at the Western New York Genealogical Society this past weekend. It was a pleasure to be talking about “Using AI for Genealogy” as part of their year-long fiftieth anniversary celebration, conducted over Zoom. At least fifteen states and two countries were represented in the audience.

The lecture was for people who have not already used AI tools but wanted to learn about them and how to start, AND for those who were already using the tools to share ideas about how to be more effective and expand their use.

It took over a day to obtain the ChatGPT data export that I mentioned during the lecture, but it did arrive later in the afternoon. As a reminder, this data export of all your chats can be requested by clicking on the profile icon on the lower left -> Settings -> Data Controls tab -> Export data. The link allows you to download a zipped file, and when you open it, use an HTML file to access your chats.

I wanted to share some of the great feedback from the audience:

• “Fantastic ‘Gen AI 101’ and how to apply it to research!!!”
• “Thank you so much! Very clear. Makes me want to go out and try it.!”
• “Fantastic program!”
• “This was perfectly demonstrated. Thank you!”
• “Wow! So much information. Thank you so much.”
• “I learned so much.  No longer afraid to try it.  Thank you.”
• ” Hope I can find the time to watch this over and over and over!”

You can embark on a captivating exploration at the crossroads of genealogy and artificial intelligence with our lecture on “Using AI in Genealogy,” conducted over Zoom. Presented by a seasoned genealogist who holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science & Engineering and is the author of “Crash Course on ChatGPT and Genealogy ,” this session promises practical ways to get started using text-to-text artificial intelligence, prompt engineering and other AI tools, with some technological background. AI tools into your genealogical research, along with some technological background about generative AI.

The reasonable pricing ensures accessibility for your group, and participants will receive a thoughtfully curated 5+ page handout. Additionally, we’ve included some optional ‘Homework, but not to turn in’ for those who are ready to delve deeper into the subject. Contact us now to secure an engaging, informative, and educational Zoom lecture for your group.

The reasonable pricing ensures accessibility for your group, and participants will receive a thoughtfully curated 5+ page handout. Additionally, we’ve included some optional ‘Homework, but not to turn in’ for those who are ready to delve deeper into the subject. Contact us now to secure an engaging, informative, and educational Zoom lecture for your group.

There’s an AI for That: Transcribing Handwriting

Despite what you might have heard, there is progress being made on anything an AI can help with, including handwriting-to-text. In this blog post, we will cover just a few of the AI tools available for transcribing images of handwritten documents into text. The conversion can be done using digital images created by scanning or photographing handwritten documents.

Transcribing documents (or important parts of documents) is a thing that I always recommend. Reading a document is passive. The motion of writing or typing a document forces us to engage different parts of our brain with its content.

Even if a tool pulls the text out of an image, there is still work to be done in checking the accuracy and formatting the text.

While this can be done with a pencil and piece of paper, I always write the transcription into a word processing document. A word processing document is easier to share and extract the key pieces of data. Be sure to store the original image and the transcription together on your computer. 

NOTE: Always consider any privacy concerns before uploading documents to a website. While the website may not store the image, it may be used to train the AI model. Anything uploaded to a website usually travels through several stops on its way through the internet to the website and back. 

NOTE: The results from these experiments are certainly influenced by the quality of material that is input. This means that your results may vary.

I am not affiliated with any of the products mentioned in this review.

Always check usage rights for what is generated by a tool.

As the “Unofficial Historian for the 51st Pioneer Infantry Regiment,” we are always on the lookout for materials that add to the understanding of the Regiment’s service in World War I. We located some letters and decided to try out some handwriting-to-text AI tools.

The beginning of one of the letters was:

OCR2Edit

OCR2Edit has tools to extract text from scans, images and includes more  features. Since the tools are focused on text, and there was no explicit tool for converting handwriting into text, I had low expectations that this would be the right tool for the task.

At the time of writing this blog post, 3 tasks per hour could be done for free.

I selected the Image to text tool and followed the directions to start the process.

When the tool was done, I could download the text file with the transcription.

The transcription of the letterhead was good, but the handwritten part was not helpful.

Aspose

Aspose OCR app is an online tool is for turning handwritten notes to text.

The interface on this webpage is slightly awkward.

The first page of a letter uploaded and the “Recognize” button clicked. Then it is time to wait. It took a while to process the request, but there was an option to bookmark the page and return to it.

There are buttons for several of their other Optical Character Recognition (OCR) apps that might be more useful.

The format for download was selectable from a drop-down menu.

There was also an option to apply Automated Text correction.

The results are downloaded into a file named “results” which is less useful than a file that has the original filename in it.

There is a button for Options on the Home Page, where you can select: Enhance Contrast, Deskew Image and Upscale Resolution.

All of the options were selected in an attempt to get better results, but there was no improvement.

Pen TO Print

Pen TO Print was the best tool in this set of experiments.

Only the first 10 pages are free, so check out the pricing if you need to do more.

Select Handwriting to Text Converter. Then Add Files, by dragging and dropping the file or clicking the plus to open a dialog box to navigate to and select a file (or files). Then select Convert.

The text can be Download as Text or Word document, or copied to the Clipboard. The filename of a downloaded files is the original filename with “Pen2Print-Export” added to it. This feature helps keep track of the transcribed files on your computer.

This was by far the best of the tools that were tried. The output needs some minor corrections, and formatting. Both of these tasks will engage the brain, and make us think about the content.

Let us know how you do!

“There’s an AI for that”

With the explosion of artificial intelligence (AI) tools available, have you considered how many tasks in genealogy might be made easier with its use? A type of AI is used to make suggestions based on your previous purchases. Search experiences are beginning to incorporate AI. AI tools can be used in the creative process to invent images and content. AI is already incorporated into many tasks already done in genealogy, such as translation and indexing.

In upcoming blog posts, we will explore a few ways that genealogical tasks that can be done more efficiently with AI. We will look for ways AI might help with a task that has been looming or to overcome hurdles in your way.

Think about tasks that you do in genealogy that could be automated or done more efficiently by using AIs. There is probably already an AI tool for that. Some potential ideas are:

• Extracting text from:
  • Images of typewritten text
  • Images of handwritten text
• Converting interviews to text
• Editing images to:
  • Remove backgrounds
  • Remove parts elements in the pictures
• Working with text
  • Summarizing text
  • Analyzing text
  • Formatting text
• Formatting citations
• Writing content

NOTE: There are many other AIs that can do amazing things. Check out recommended tools from sources that you trust. While you can search the web for tools but be sure to trust your antivirus software and only click on safe websites. The best suggestion is to always try before paying any fee.

NOTE: Do not upload sensitive information into any AI tool.

In Memoriam: Sharon Gumerove

This past year the frequency of blog posts slowed as I processed the loss of my best friend since 8th grade, Sharon Gumerove. You might have seen her name gracing the dedications in my books, acknowledging her unwavering support of my efforts, especially in website and editing services.

Being from different boroughs in New York City, we might not have met had it not been for us attending what could be considered a magnet school, Hunter College High School. Our adventures could easily fill a book. We were part of a team publishing a science fiction fan magazine in high school and college. We drove across the country when I moved to California, long before she had her driver’s license. There were so many great times we spent together. More than that, we were family.

If our adventures could fill a book, Sharon’s acts of kindness to others could fill a library. She was a beacon of generosity, always ready to lend a helping hand. The lives she touched were undoubtedly better for having known her.

Thanks to phone calls and social media we stayed in close contact. Just before her passing, we spent countless late nights discussing uses of new artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. Her focus was on content creation for her websites and social media; my focus was about how to use AI in genealogy and to support all types of learning. We bounced ideas off each other, sharing our experiments and what we had learned. The feeling of loss echoes every time I contemplate reaching out to share a moment or inquire about her life.

Sharon had an array of plans for the future; her death was truly unanticipated. I found myself drawing on the genealogical search and contact skills I had amassed to reach out to those close enough to attend her funeral and the users of her web hosting service. She had hosted my website, and the transition, though challenging, became manageable with the skills she had imparted. She had taught me enough to manage my website; I only needed to learn about web hosting.

As we step into 2024 with hopes and plans, there’s an undeniable sadness: a realization that we are closing the book on the last year Sharon was with us. May her memory be a blessing, a testament to the profound impact she had on all our lives.

Shake That Family Tree Event

On 14 October 2023 the Howard County Genealogical and Historical Societies and the Howard County Public Library System organized the “Shake That Family Tree” event at the Miller Library in Ellicott City, MD. This was intended as a beginner-level event, but there was certainly great information for all the genealogists who attended.

I was delighted to have been invited to host a table about military research and my books. All day long there were interesting talks, and a room full of tables with representatives from local history and genealogical societies who were eager to share information about what they were doing and offer help to genealogists at all levels.

Many of the people who stopped by did not know if they had ancestors who served in WWI. The best place to check is the FamilySearch database for the VA Master Index, which has been covered in this updated blog’s post “Did My Ancestor Serve in WWI?” to reflect the changed search interface.

The Howard County Genealogical and Historical Societies and the Miller Library hosted a wonderful event, and it is certainly my hope that this might become an annual event!