A gentle introduction to using Artificial Intelligence for family history.
If you are completely new to Artificial Intelligence, you are in the right place. GeneAIlogy has been created by the Airedale & Wharfedale Family History Society to help family historians learn how to use AI with confidence.
You do not need technical knowledge to get started. Begin with these simple ideas, experiment with the Prompt Builder and enjoy the journey.
Artificial Intelligence is software that can understand and generate human language. Think of it as having a conversation with an extremely well-read research assistant.
AI works best as a conversation, not a search engine. Give it context, ask follow-up questions and refine the answer as you go.
AI responds to prompts. A prompt is simply the question or instruction you give it. Better questions usually produce better answers.
The best AI answers come from good evidence. Provide a transcript, certificate, census entry, newspaper article or research notes whenever possible.
Use AI to generate ideas, explain unfamiliar records, summarise documents and suggest next research steps. Do not use it to decide what is true.
AI can make mistakes. Always check important names, dates, places, relationships and conclusions against original records and reliable sources.
You do not need complicated prompts. Start by asking AI to explain a record in plain English, then ask follow-up questions.
If you discover an AI question that works particularly well, share it. GeneAIlogy is designed to grow through community knowledge.
The easiest way to learn is to experiment. Choose a genealogy task, add a few details, and GeneAIlogy will build an AI question for you.
🤖 Build an AI Question 📚 Browse the Prompt Library