AI is Your Research Assistant

I like to listen to podcasts of all types, but my favorites are podcasts about our favorite topic - genealogy. A few weeks ago, I ran out of episodes in my queue, so I searched to see if there was anything new. That was my lucky day! I stumbled upon a gem I had never heard of before: Ancestors and Algorithms.

Ancestors and Algorithms is about using artificial intelligence to aid genealogy research. My own experiments with AI had been pretty basic: asking for historical context or tidying up my writing. But Ancestors and Algorithms has opened my eyes to what is possible when you put these tools to work for serious research.

Each weekly episode tackles a real-life genealogy puzzle and shows exactly how AI can help. The host, Brian, guides listeners through the process, moving seamlessly between different AI platforms depending upon the need—using Perplexity to uncover available sources, Claude to analyze data, and ChatGPT to tease out hidden records, and others.

He doesn’t just explain what he does; he explains why each tool is the right fit for the task.

What I love most is that Brian shares the exact prompts he uses, so I can write them down and test them myself. Let’s just say I’ve realized my prompts could use some serious improvement! His mantra, “AI is your research assistant, not your researcher” is a reminder that technology can accelerate our work—but we are still the ones who must connect the dots.

Now, every Tuesday morning, I can’t wait for the next episode to drop. If you are curious about how AI can revolutionize your family history research, give Ancestors and Algorithms a try. It just might change the way you look at your genealogy journey.