AI and Genealogy: A Practical Guide to Summarizing, Transcribing, and Translating Historical Documents

Genealogical research has always called for a deep dive into a wide array of historical resources—everything from centuries-old marriage registers and immigration documents to handwritten diaries and newspaper clippings that capture the rhythm of our ancestors’ daily lives. And let’s be honest: it wasn’t that long ago that we, as researchers, had to wade through every line ourselves, painstakingly summarizing, transcribing, and, in some cases, translating these materials with nothing but our own eyes, our own expertise, and a whole lot of patience.

But things have changed—and in a big way. Thanks to cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence (AI), genealogists now have powerful new tools at their fingertips. These advanced language models can take your family documents—no matter how large, how old, or how challenging to read—and deliver concise summaries, transcriptions, and translations with impressive accuracy. From hobbyist family historians to seasoned professionals, this technology can truly turbocharge your workflow and open up new research frontiers.

This book is here to help you cut through the hype and get right to the heart of what AI can do for your genealogy projects. We’ll explore how these new tools work, walk you through today’s best AI platforms, and lay out clear, practical strategies so you can quickly start applying them to your own research. Bottom line? If you use AI intelligently and ethically, you’ll unlock new possibilities in your genealogy work that you might never have dreamed possible.